The Freedom of Information Act 2000 allows people to request information from public bodies.
The term “public bodies” includes practice surgeries.
The aim of the Freedom of Information Act is to promote better public understanding about:
how public bodies carry out their duties
why public bodies make the decisions they do
how public bodies spend public money.
The Act enables people to gain access to information in two ways:
through publication schemes
through a general right of access.
Each practice is required to publish a publication scheme. This is a guide on the information that a practice is required to publish by law, to clarify the decisions that are made by the practice and the reasons for those decisions and other relevant information.
People have a right under the Act to make a request for any information held by a practice and the organisation has a duty to comply by responding to that request.
There are exemptions to this right. Subject to exemptions, an individual making a request for information must be told if the public body holds that information and receive this within 20 working days.
Personal information requests can be made under the Data Protection Act 1998 and not under the Freedom of Information Act.
The role of the Information Commissioner's Office is to oversee and enforce the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and the Data Protection Act 1998.
People have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office if they feel that their request for information has not been dealt with satisfactorily.
The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 allows members of the public the right to have access to environmental information held by public bodies such as policies, plans, agreements and other measures, reports including cost benefit analyses, human health and safety and contamination of the food chain and buildings which may be affected by environmental factors.
The Regulations apply essentially to the same public bodies that are covered under the Freedom of Information Act.
The practice has a policy on how to manage requests for information under the Act.
