Freedom of Information and Data Protection

Freedom of Information

Under The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI Act) you have the right to request access to information held by Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust.

Publication Scheme

In order to comply with the FOI Act public sector organisation such as ours have to routinely publish information whenever possible.  The Information Commissioner's Office, who is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the FOI Act has drawn up what is called a Model Publication Scheme for all public sector organisation which we have formally committed to and decided to adopt.  The commissioner has also published a "Definition Document for NHS Organisation" which sets out the minimum expectations. 

The list of documents available via this website is constantly changing, therefore if you are looking for information, we recommend that you initially use the search facility on the website. Please click here to access the search function.

Fees and charges

Most reasonable information requests should be provided free of charges.  However where the collation of the response puts excessive demands to the Trust, a reasonable charge may be applicable.

In such circumstances, the Information Governance Office will inform the applicant in writing of the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance.  The notification of charges and the date the applicant pays the charge will be recorded.  The maximum cost of fees will be £450.

Where information needs to be sent via post, charges will also apply.  These charges as follows:-

10p per A4 sheet

15p per A3 sheet

and charges will apply once the total amount is over £5. This equates to 50 pages of A4 or 34 pages of A3.

The requestor will be informed of a charge as early on in the process as possible. As soon as the charge is determined they will be sent a letter requesting that they pay the amount before the information can be sent to them.

As an open and transparent organisation, we are committed to routinely publishing as much information as possible; such information is continually updated.  However, if you want information which is not on our website you may ask us in accordance with further provisions of the FOI Act and of the Environmental Information Regulations 2005 (EIR) (see below).  You can contact us via email at foi@candi.nhs.uk or write to:

The Information Governance Office

1st Floor North Wing,

St Pancras Hospital

St Pancras Way

London NW1 0PE

Telephone: 020 3317 3115

Email: foi@candi.nhs.uk

By law we have to deal with such requests within 20 working days.  If you make a request and are not satisfied with the way in which we deal with your request, you may ask us to review any decision we make.  If you wish us to undertake such a Review you should write to The Information Governance Office at the above address and they will start the process for the Internal Review.

All Reviews will normally be under the control and direction of the Review Panel who are senior members of staff and who have had no involvement in the original decision or process.  The Review process will normally take 20 working days unless there are exceptionally circumstances in which case the Review could take 40 days.  You will of course be notified if your case does go over the 20 day period.

If you remain dissatisfied at the conclusion of any Review you may complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, whose address is:

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire   SK9 5AF

Tel:  0303 123 1113

Fax: 01625 524 510

Email: mail@ico.gsi.gov.uk

Web address: www.ico.gov.uk

Environmental Information Request (EIR)

The Environmental Information Regulations allows you to request environmental information from the Trust.

The information covered can be divided into the following main areas:

  • The state of the elements of the environment, such as air, water, soil, land, fauna (including human beings)
  • Emissions and discharges, noise, energy, radiation, waste and other such substances
  • Measures and activities such as policies, plans, and agreements affecting or likely to affect the state of the elements of the environment
  • Reports, cost-benefit and economic analyses
  • The state of human health and safety, contamination of the food chain
  • Cultural sites and built structures (to the extent they may be affected by the state of the elements of the environment)

The same rules apply for processing the information as in the FOI Act.

Data Protection Act 1988/Access to Health Records

If you want to ask for information, which we may hold about you personally, then this will be dealt with under the Data Protection Act 1998.  This would include information relating to health records, employment and training records - anything which is limited to you as a person, whether as a patient, employee or contractor.

For all requests concerning health records you will need to complete this form.

For all other Data Protection requests please contact the relevant departments in writing to:

For members of staff only please contact HR Support at Hr.support@candi.nhs.uk

For all others please contact information.request@candi.nhs.uk

With regards to health records request there may be a charge of £10 - £50 administrative costs depending on the page count.  You will be notified in writing if a charge is to be made. For further information please contact the Information Governance Office on 020 3317 3107 or 020 3317 3315.

For all other requests there also may be a charge of £10 - £50 administrative costs depending on the page counts.  You will of course be notified in writing by the relevant department.

We have recently compiled a guidance regarding The Use of Photographs within the Trust.  This will ensure the Trust is compliant and it will be of interest to the service user.

For more information on the Data Protection Act and your records please refer to the Data Protection & Confidentiality section.

Data Protection and FOI - how do the two interact?


The Data Protection Act 1998 primarily functions to safeguard and protect information held about individuals. It also provides individuals with a right of access to any personal information held that relates to them.

Please note that the FOI Act does not give individuals access to their personal information. Any such request would be treated as a Data Protection Act subject access request. If the individual chooses to make this information public, it could be used alongside non-personal information gained by the public under the terms of the FOI Act.