Freedom of Information (FOI)

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) allows for any member of the public to ask for a range of information held by public authorities, including the NHS. An FOI request must be made in writing, this can be in the form of a letter or an email to a public authority. The purpose of the act is to promote greater openness and accountability. However, there are some circumstances when information cannot be disclosed, under the FOI Act these are described as exemptions. 

The FOI Act 2000 requires Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust (C&I) to:

• Provide information about the Trust through our publication scheme
• Respond appropriately to requests for information

We are obliged to respond to requests within 20 working days. We will contact you if we are unable to meet this deadline. Please note that C&I is an adult Mental Health Trust providing services for adults of working age,adults with learning difficulties, and older people in the London area. If you request concerns children, young people (under 18) or acute services we may not hold the information you are looking for. 

Please note that from August 2022, for cyber security reasons, we will not be able to open any email attachments, or click on links, contained within FOI requests. The full details of the FOI request must be contained within the main body of the email

Making a Freedom of Information Request

When making a request please ensure you provide:

• your real name - we do not have to respond to requests submitted under a pseudonym;
• your contact address (email addresses are acceptable);
• a description of the information you wish to obtain

It would be helpful to avoid:

• using open-ended questions or asking for an opinion. We are unable to answer your question if this it would mean creating new information or giving an opinion or judgement that is not already recorded;
• submitting frivolous or trivial requests; remember that processing any information request involves some cost to the public purse;
• mixing your request with complaints or comments. These should be raised through the complaint process

Before submitting an FOI request, the information you are requesting may be available to you on our website or in our publication scheme. We also routinely publish previous FOI responses which may contain the information you are requesting. Please always check our website, publication scheme and previously requested information pages before submitting a request:

Previously Requested Information – 2022-23 | Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust (candi.nhs.uk)
Information Requested | Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust (candi.nhs.uk)

The Information Governance Team process FOI requests on behalf of Camden and Islington NHS FT. You can contact the team via the below details:

Email: freedom.information@candi.nhs.uk

If you are unhappy with how we handled your FOI request, you may ask us to review any decision we make. This process is known as an Internal Review. Full details of how to ask the Trust for an internal review will be included in our initial reply to your FOI request, as well as details of how to complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) if you remain unsatisfied.

Making a request for personal information or your health records

If your request is for personal information such as health records, then this should be made as a Subject Access Request. You can make a Subject Access Request by clicking here.

Publication Scheme

In order to comply with the FOI Act public sector organisations, have to routinely publish information whenever possible. The ICO, who are responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the FOI Act, has drawn up what is called a Model Publication Scheme for all public sector organisations, 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 our website or the publication scheme before making an FOI request.