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Freedom of Information (FOI)

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requires all public authorities, including the NHS, to publish information about that organisation. These pages contain information routinely published by the Trust under the Trust's publication scheme.

Guide to information

Under Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust has a legal duty to adopt and maintain a publication scheme for publication of the Trust’s information.

About the publication scheme

The publication scheme is a guide to the information routinely published by East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust. The Trust has adopted the Information Commissioner’s Model Publication Scheme and describes the types of information which we make publicly available.

Our publication scheme explains what information we provide to the public and, where possible, we will make it easy for you to access. The information is classed into the following categories:

Make a Freedom of Information request

If you would like to make a request for information please take a look at our Disclosure Log to see if question has been answered recently.

The Freedom of Information Act obliges the Trust to respond to requests about information which it holds and is recorded in any form. The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness by public authorities. These rights are subject to some exemptions which the Trust has to take into account before deciding what information can be released. 

If you cannot find what you are looking for, please contact us. All requests must be made in writing and must state the following:

  • Requester's name

  • Requester’s address (this can be an email address)

  • Details of the information required.

Please post your request to:

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
Trust Offices
Kent and Canterbury Hospital
Ethelbert Road
Canterbury
CT1 3NG

Make a freedom of information request

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, members of the public are also entitled to access their clinical records or any other personal information held about them. For advice on how to do this, members of the public should contact our Access to Records department.

More details on the Trust’s processes for managing Freedom of Information requests can be found in our Freedom of Information Policy.

Please note that under the Freedom of Information Act, all requests must be made in writing. You must also provide your real name and an address to which our response can be sent (for example, an email or postal address).

If you are seeking to obtain copies of your own medical health records (or somebody else's which may be entitled to have), please note that this is not covered by the Freedom of Information Act (2000). You can obtain a copy of your health records by contacting our Access to Records department.

Advice and assistance

If you require Freedom of Information advice, or assistance in formulating a request, please email ekh-tr.FOI@nhs.net. Please be clear that your request is for preliminary advice or assistance, and not a request for information. 

The Information Commissioner's Office has a guide on how to access information from a public body which you may also find useful.

Patient confidentiality

The Freedom of Information Act does not change the right of patients to protection of their patient confidentiality in accordance with Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention, the Data Protection Act and at Common Law. Maintaining the legal right to patient confidentiality continues to be an important commitment on our part. 

To help with this, the Trust has appointed a Caldicott Guardian who has the responsibility to ensure the protection of patient confidentiality throughout the Trust. 

The Trust also has a SIRO who is concerned with identifying and managing the information risks to the organisation. This includes acting as a champion for information risk on behalf of the Board and provision of advice to the Chief Executive on the content of the Trust’s Statement of Internal Control in respect of information risk. The Department of Health guidance states that “the SIRO should be an executive or senior manager on the Trust Board". 

The Trust’s Caldicott Guardian is:

Dr Des Holden, Chief Medical Officer
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
Trust Offices
Kent and Canterbury Hospital
Ethelbert Road
Canterbury
CT1 3NG

The Trust’s Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) is:

Director of Finance and Performance Management
East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust
Trust Offices
Kent and Canterbury Hospital
Ethelbert Road
Canterbury
CT1 3NG.

Rights of access to information

In addition to accessing the information identified in this Publication Scheme, any member of the public is entitled to request information about the Trust, under the NHS Openness Code 1995.

The Freedom of Information Act recognised that members of the public have the right to know how public services such as the NHS are organised and run, how much they cost and the complaints process. Members of the public have the right to know which services are being provided by the Trust, the targets that are being set, the standards of services that are to be expected and the results achieved. 

We retain copyright to all information we disclose to you and any information we supply to you under FOIA should be for your personal use.  

Information released under FOI can be re-used free of charge under an open government licence.  A copy of this licence can be found on the National Archives website.    

Other information may incur a marginal cost under the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations before re-use is allowed. Information that can be transmitted to you electronically will not incur such a cost.  

Information management

Information falling into the Classes we define will be retained in line with our retention and disposal schedules, which comply with circular HSC1999/53 and Public Record Office Guidance.

Our FOI compliance

East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust should, as a matter of best practice, publish details of their performance on handling requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Compliance report 01.10.2023 - 31.12.2023 Compliance report 01.07.2023 - 30.09.2023 Compliance report 01.04.2023 - 30.06.2023