FOI Act

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act was passed on 30 November 2000. It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, with full access granted in January 2005. The Act sets out exemptions to that right and places certain obligations on public authorities.

	It applies to Public Authorities
	It affects everyone in the organisation,
	There is a statutory duty to implement,
	Allows anyone, no matter who or where they are, to find out whether information is held, and if it is, to have access to it,
	Is retrospective in nature,
	Creates the office of the Information Commissioner,
	Specifies exemptions covering information that does not have to be released,
	Requires all organisations in the NHS to set up and maintain publication schemes that tell the public what information is held,
	Allows arrangements for enforcement and appeal,

For a link to read the full version of the Act click the link below.

http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000036.htm

What does it mean for the NHS?

With full access rights coming into force in January 2005 the immediate requirement for the NHS is for Publication Schemes to be in place by October 2003. We had our page published on the Freedom on Information website on 23rd October 2003 but for some reason that Dr Masharani can't understand the project was abandoned soon afterwards. This means that the data available is now more than a year old. Dr Masharani has therefore provided a link to a Word document which was updated on 10th September 2007, which adheres to the same template as the FOI site. Click on the doctor for the link.

You can print off any material from our page on the FOI site without obtaining prior permission from the practice but we do charge for providing hard copies or copying onto media such as CD-ROMs. For further information about this service please contact the surgery by telephone, or email or in writing.