The FOI Act is supported by the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) which gives public access to environmental information which is held by public authorities.
The act recognises that members of the public have the right to know how public services such as the NHS are organised and run, and how much they cost.
The public has the right to know what services the trust provides, the targets that have to be met, the standards of services that are expected, and the results achieved.
Requests for information must:
- Be made in writing – this includes letters, emails or faxes
- State the name of the applicant
- Give an address where the response can be sent (postal address or an email address)
- Contain details of the information requested
Exemptions
Sometimes there may be very good reasons why the trust cannot release certain information, but in these situations the trust will refer to the exemptions in the FOI Act and let the applicant know why the information cannot be released.
An example of this would be where the information requested was the personal information of another person.
Publication scheme
Under section 19 of the act public bodies have a legal duty to adopt and maintain a publication scheme.
This is a list of documents containing information about South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.