The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 recognises that everyone has the right to know how public services, such as NHS Wales, are organised and 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 service that are expected, the results achieved and how decisions are made.
Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, all public authorities are required to have and operate a publication scheme approved by the Information Commissioner. This is a very general scheme based on the principle that all public authorities need to recognize the public interest in the transparency of the services provided for and paid for by the general public. It is a commitment to make information easily available to the public.
Doctors providing medical services under most contracts with the NHS in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are public authorities in respect of information relating to those services.
Note: The scheme is only for information held as a public authority and does not include any information that is not held, is held for other purposes or would be exempt from release. Information covered by this scheme is only about the primary, general or personal medical services we provide under contract to the National Health Service. The rights to request and access this information are subject to some exemptions, which a General Practice has to take into consideration before deciding what information can be released.
Information available from St Davids Surgery under the Freedom of Information Act model publication scheme
Our Publication Scheme is a guide to the information routinely made available to the public by this Practice. It is a description of the information about each of the General Practitioners and the Practice itself which we make publicly available. It will be reviewed at regular intervals and we will monitor its effectiveness.
The model publication scheme covers seven types of information:
- Who we are and what we do (doctors in the Practice, Practice contact details, opening hours and other staffing, organisational structure) – available on the Practice website, or via the Practice Manager
- What we spend and how we spend it – available on request from the Practice Manager
- What our priorities are and how we are doing – available on request from the Practice Manager
- How we make decisions – available on request from the Practice Manager
- Our policies and procedures – (current written protocols, policies and procedures for delivering our services and responsibilities) – available on request from the Practice Manager
- Lists and registers – (none held)
- The services we offer – available on the Practice website, or via the Practice Leaflet which is available from the Practice Manager
How is the information is made available?
If you are unable to access any of the above information through our website, hard copies are available (charges may apply) from the Practice Manager, St Davids Surgery, 36 New Street, St Davids, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA62 6SS.
How to make a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request
You should make your request in writing to the Practice Manager. Your request should include your real name (we may need to verify your identity), a correspondence address at which we can write to you, and a description of the information you are requesting. We will respond within 20 working days.
How much does it cost?
For the most part, we will charge you only for hard copies or copying onto media (e.g. CD ROM). Some information is available free, but for others there may be a charge. The charges will vary according to how information is made available. Charges are as follows:
- Via the General Practice/Local Health Board /Trust website – free of charge (although any charges for Internet Service provider and personal printing costs would have to be met by the individual)
- Practice Leaflet – e.g. information on the services we offer to the public – free of charge
- E-mail will be free of charge
- Requests for multiple printouts, or for archived copies of documents which are no longer accessible or available on the web, may attract a charge for the retrieval, photocopy, postage etc.
- If finding the information and drawing it together to answer the request places an unreasonable burden on our resources and exceeds a set costs limit, we may refuse the request; likewise, we may not have to confirm whether or not we hold the information if it would exceed the costs limit to determine this
- We will not provide printouts of other organisations’ websites
The Act allows us to recover our communication costs, such as for photocopying, printing and postage. We will let you know the cost and charges that will have to be paid in advance. We do not have to send the information until we have received the fee. The time limit for complying with the request excludes any time spent waiting for the fee to be paid. Our charges will be reviewed regularly and will be in line with other NHS organisations.
You can download a copy of the Freedom of Information Request here
Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) requests
The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), which came into force in 1993, set the standard for the release of information about the environment in which we live and work, for example information about land development, pollution levels, energy production, waste management, etc. The Regulations give people a right of access to information about the activities of public authorities that relate to or affect the environment, unless there is good reason for them not to have the information – the scheme only covers information which we already hold, so if we don’t hold any of the information, we don’t have to create it.
Requesters should make their requests to the Practice Manager – the request should include your real name (we may need to verify your identity), a correspondence address at which we can write to you, and a description of the information you are requesting. We will respond in writing within 20 working days, inform the requester whether we hold any of the information, and make that information available, unless an exception applies. We may charge for making information available to a requester in some circumstances, e.g. if we provide information in hard copy, we can make a reasonable charge to cover the cost, including the cost of transferring the information to the applicant and the staff time taken to locate the information.
