Freedom of Information

The purpose of this document is to ensure that staff and patients at Solent View Medical Practice are aware of the ways in which the organisation adheres to the Freedom of Information (FoI) Act 2000 (referred to as the Act herein). The Act enables the public to access information held by public authorities in two ways:

• Public authorities are obliged to publish certain information about their activities
• Members of the public are entitled to request information from public authorities who, in turn, are required to provide the requested information within 20 working days, unless it is exempted

 It is important to note that the Act does not give individuals access to their own personal data, i.e. healthcare records. This is processed by means of a subject access request.

Solent View Medical Practice will ensure that the principles of the Act are adhered to and staff must make sure that any FOI requests are processed as per this guidance.

The practice aims to design and implement policies and procedures that meet the diverse needs of our service and workforce, ensuring that none are placed at a disadvantage over others, in accordance with the Equality Act 2010. Consideration has been given to the impact this policy might have regarding the individual protected characteristics of those to whom it applies.

In accordance with the Act, Solent View Medical Practice must:

• Publish certain information proactively
• Respond to requests for information

By accepting these obligations, the practice will be deemed to be operating in an open and transparent manner.

In general, the overarching principle of the Act is that people have a right to understand the activities of public authorities, including GP practices. The ICO states the following principles:3

• Everybody has a right to access official information
• Applicants do not need to give a reason for wanting the information. On the contrary, organisations must justify refusing to provide the information
• All requests for information must be treated equally except under some circumstances relating to vexatious requests and personal data. Furthermore, all requesters are to be treated equally, whether they are journalists, local residents, public authority employees or foreign researchers
• As all requesters are treated equally, you should only disclose information under the Act if you would disclose it to anyone else who asked

Information can be shared voluntarily outside the provisions of the Act.

The ICO expects this organisation to adopt its model publication scheme and commit to:

• Proactively publishing or otherwise making available, as a matter of routine, information, including environmental information, that is held by the authority and falls within the classifications below
• Specifying the information which is held by the authority and falls within the classifications below
• Proactively publishing or otherwise making available, as a matter of routine, information in line with the statements contained within this scheme
• Producing and publishing the methods by which the specific information is made routinely available so that it can be easily identified and accessed by members of the public 
• Reviewing and updating on a regular basis the information the authority makes available under the scheme 
• Producing a schedule of any fees charged for access to information that is made proactively available
•  Making this publication scheme available to the public
•  Publishing any data set held by the authority that has been requested, and any updated versions it holds, unless the authority is satisfied that it is not appropriate to do so; publishing the data set, where reasonably practicable, in an electronic form that is capable of reuse; and, if any information in the data set is a relevant copyright work and the public authority is the only owner, making the information available for reuse under the terms of the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015, if they apply, and otherwise under the terms of the FOI Act section 19

The term ‘data set’ is defined in section 11(5) of the Act, and the term ‘relevant copyright work’ is defined in section 19(8) of the Act. The template for Solent View Medical Practice’s publication scheme can be found at Annex A.

The publication scheme refers to seven classes or types of information:

• Who we are and what we do – doctors in the practice, contact details, opening hours and other staffing details
• What we spend and how we spend it (current and previous financial year) – total cost of contracted services, audit of NHS income
• What our priorities are and how we are doing (current and previous year) – plans for developing and providing NHS services
  
• How we make decisions (current and previous year) – records of decisions made in the organisation affecting the provision of NHS services
• Our policies and procedures (practices should state if a policy is ‘not held’ as well as listing any additional ones) – policies, protocols and procedures concerning the employment of staff, delivery of services, equality and diversity, health and safety, complaints, records management (retention and destruction), data protection, the handling of requests for information and the patients’ charter
•  Lists and registers – it is unlikely that any organisation will have any publicly available register or list and the ICO has advised that ‘none held’ can be entered here
• The services we offer – current NHS services provided and any charges, information leaflets and out-of-hours arrangements

The ICO expects Solent View Medical Practice to make the above information available unless:

• The requested information is not held
• The information is exempt under one of the FOIA exemptions
• The information is readily and publicly available from an external website; such information may have been provided either by the GP or on their behalf. The GP must provide a direct link to that information
• The information is archived, out of date or otherwise inaccessible 
•  It would be impractical or resource-intensive to prepare the material for routine release

To ensure the validity of FOI requests, staff at Solent View Medical Practice must ensure that the request:

• Is in writing, either letter or email 
• Includes the requester’s real name or is in the name of an organisation, or is by one person on behalf of another, i.e. a solicitor on behalf of their client 
• Includes a correspondence address (email or postal) 
•  Describes the requested information

Staff should be mindful that almost anything in writing that asks for information can be deemed as a FOI request under the Act.

Requests pertaining to environmental information can be made verbally and should be responded to appropriately.

Responding to a Request

Solent View Medical Practice will respond to information requests in accordance with the following guidance:

• Ensure that the request meets the criteria for a valid FOI request. This should be in writing, include the requester’s real name and a correspondence address and describe the information concerned. The ICO states that requesters do not have to ask for a specific document and they may ask a question about a particular topic
• In instances of invalid requests, Solent View Medical Practice must provide advice and assistance, informing the requester how to make a request under the Act
• Class all requests for personal data as ‘subject access requests’
• Ask for clarity if there is any doubt or uncertainty about the request
• Ensure that all requests are responded to within the 20 day time frame
• Send the information to the applicant by whatever means they have requested
• Redact sensitive personal information before sending (obtain professional advice if necessary)

Solent View Medical Practice must respond to all FOI requests and it is a criminal offence to deliberately destroy, hide or alter requested information to prevent it being released.

Refusing a Request

At Solent View Medical Practce, requests may be refused for the following reasons:

• It would cost too much or take too much time for staff to process the request
• The request is vexatious (i.e. causing or tending to cause annoyance, frustration or worry)
• The request repeats a previous request from the same person

Solent View Medical Practice is permitted to withhold information if an exemption applies. In all instances of refusal, the organisation will send the requester a written refusal notice. This notice must state either that Solent View Medical Practice has the information but is refusing to release it or the organisation is refusing to say whether the requested information is held.

Detailed information regarding exemptions can be found in sections 21-44 of Part II of the Act.

Solent View Medical Practice has an obligation to make sure it adheres to the principles of the Act, ensuring right of access to information held at the practice. In doing so, the organisation is demonstrating that it is operating in an open and transparent manner and complying with the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Information available from Solent View Medical Practice who/ provide medical services under contract to the NHS under the Freedom of Information Act model publication scheme.