Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides public access to information held by public authorities.

Anyone can make a freedom of information request – they do not have to be UK citizens or resident in the UK. Freedom of information requests can also be made by organisations, for example a newspaper, a campaign group, or a company. Employees of a public authority can make requests to their own employer, although good internal communications and staff relations will normally avoid the need for this.

What to consider before you make a request

Is the information you require already on our website?

A lot of information is available as part of our publication scheme and in particular within our Annual Reports. The link below will take you to our annual reports and accounts, our quality reports and our Board meeting minutes. Please be aware that applying for information which already exists still uses our valuable resources to acknowledge and respond to your request, albeit to state that it already exists on our website.

If you require personal information about yourself or an individual for whom you are a carer, parent or guardian you’ll need to make a Subject Access Request.

For more detail on what you can request, who can make a request, what to consider and the dos and donts of making a request please refer to the Information Commissioners Office website.

How to make a request

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests must be made in writing and include your name and address. Try to include as much information as possible and send your request to:

Alternatively, please email FOIRequests@alderhey.nhs.uk.

What happens next?

• We will acknowledge receipt of your request within two working days.
• We will endeavour to provide the information you have requested within 20 working days of receipt of your request.
• We will notify you as soon as possible if we find we are unable to provide the information within 20 working days.
• We may ask you to provide us with more information to help us locate the information you have requested.
• We will notify you if any information you have requested cannot be provided. If this happens we will explain to you why this information has been withheld and notify you of the advice and guidance to applicants’ process.
  

Will there be any charges?

The Trust will generally not charge for information it has chosen to publish through its Publication Scheme. You may be asked to pay a small amount for hard copies, multiple copies or copying onto media, such as a CD-ROM.

Exclusions

On some occasions, we will not be able to disclose information because it is covered by an exemption under the Act. If this happens, we will explain the reason why and provide you with advice and guidance. For example, we may ask you to restructure your request for similar information that is available.

In line with section 12 of the Act, if the Trust thinks it will cost more than £450 to find information and prepare it for release, then we are able to turn down a request. If this is the case, you will be informed and we will provide you with advice and guidance. For example, we may ask you to reduce the amount of information you are requesting.
 

Complaints and right of appeal

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your request or with the way the Trust has handled your request, you can seek to resolve this through the internal review process. Any complaints or requests for appeals should be directed in the first instance to the Information Governance Team at the address above.

If you are unhappy with the outcome of your complaint or appeal, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner at the following address:

The Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
 

Publication Scheme

A Publication Scheme is a specific guide to the information that an authority holds. Our Publication Scheme has been designed to comply with revised guidance published by the Information Commissioner’s Office in 2013. As such, the information provided in this section is divided into the seven required classes of information. 

1.     Who we are and what we do
Visit our About us page for this :

2.     What we spend and how we spend it
This can be found in our Annual Accounts

You can view our Expenditure over £25,000 reports here.

3.     Our priorities and performance
This can be found in our Annual Report

4.     How we make decisions
This can be found in our Annual Report

5.     Our policies and procedures     

These can be requested via the FOI process as above

6.     Lists and registers                                                    

These can be requested via the FOI process as above although responses to previous FOI requests for information are available in our Disclosure Log. 

7.     The services we offer
This can be found in our Annual Report and on our About us Page.