Whipps Cross University Hospital

IntroductionThe Freedom of Information Act became law on 30 November 2000.  It gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information by public authorities, with full access granted in January 2005. The Act sets out exemptions to that right and places certain obligations on public authorities.
Freedom of Information replaces the Open Government Code of Practice, which has been in operation since 1994.  For further information visit the NHS Freedom of Information website. To request information under Freedom of Information, please e-mail: info@whippsx.nhs.uk
Our Publication Scheme is also available on this website. This Scheme Scheme is a guide to the information routinely published by the Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust (WXUHT). It is a description of the information about our Trust which we make publicly available.  We shall review the Scheme at regular intervals and monitor how it is operating.
It is important to us that this Scheme meets your needs and we have designed it to be a route map so that you can find information about the Trust easily.  Under Section 19 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (there is a link to the Act in Part 3 below) the Trust has a legal duty to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme for the publication of Trust information. The purpose of the Act is to promote greater openness by public authorities (of which Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust is one).

The Publication Scheme will help you to find all the information which the Trust publishes.  The Freedom of Information Act 2000 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 common law. Maintaining the legal right to patient confidentiality continues to be an important commitment on our part.  To help with this, we have appointed someone who is called a Caldicott Guardian, and who has a responsibility to ensure the protection of patient confidentiality throughout the Trust in accordance with your legal rights. In Whipps Cross University Hospital our Caldicott Guardian is :

Dr. John Hogan,
Medical Director
Trust Offices, C2Whipps Cross University Hospital,
Whipps Cross Road,
London E11 1NR 

Information management

Information falling into the appropriate Classes will be retained in line with the Whipps Cross University Hospital's retention and disposal schedules, which comply with circular HSC 1999/53 and Public Records Office Guidance.

Information not required for the business purposes of the Trust is stored at the Trust and at places of deposit approved by the Lord Chancellor for the purposes of holding public records.
 

Feedback

Any questions or comments about this scheme should be sent to the Chief Executive, Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust, Whipps Cross Road, London E11 1NR or e-mail to chief.executive@whippsx.nhs.uk. If you have a complaint about the operation of the Publication Scheme or how the Trust has dealt with your request for information about the Scheme, this should also be addressed to the Chief Executive at the above address, who will ensure that this is investigated.

Rights of Access

• At the present time, in addition to accessing the information identified in this Publication Scheme, you are entitled to request information about the Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust under the NHS Openness Code 1995. A link to this is available in Part 3 of the Scheme and hard copies are available free of charge from the Department of Health Publications Unit, Department of Health, P.O. Box 777, London SE1 6XH. Sometimes, some or all of the information cannot be provided and we will explain the reasons why not when this happens.
  
• The Freedom of Information Act recognises that, as a member of the public, you have the right to know how public services such as the NHS are run, how much they cost and how you can make complaints if you need to. You have the right to know which services are being provided, the targets that are being set, the standards of services that are expected and the results achieved.
  
• From January 1 2005 the Act will also oblige the Trust to respond to requests about the information that it holds and is recorded in any form, and it will create a right of access to that information. The rights to request and access this information are subject to some exemptions which the Trust has to take into consideration before deciding what information can be released.
  
• Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are entitled to access your clinical records or any other personal information held about you and you can contact the Trust's Data Protection Officer/Director of Information Management & Technology, Whipps Cross University Hospital NHS Trust, Whipps Cross Road, London E11 1NR to do this.
  
• New Environmental Information Regulations may be introduced as early as 2003. These will enable similar access to environmental information as under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.