The Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 allows you to access information held by any public body, in our case the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust (NCA), formed by bringing together Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust and The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust.
Using the Act you can request information from the NCA and you are entitled to be told whether the Trust has it and, if so, to be supplied with the information, in accordance with certain conditions and subject to exemptions. In the Spirit of the Act, the Trust publishes much information about our spending and use of public funds on our website. The information you are seeking may be available on this website. If you don’t find what you are looking for you can formally request the information from the Trust, please email us.
Patients are reminded if they require information about themselves, such as copies of medical records (rather than details of Trust spending and decision making), these requests are processed under the Subject Access provision of the General Data Protection Regulations and more details can be found on the Access your health records page.
The information you are seeking under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act maybe available on this website. Our publication scheme also provides details on our services and the type of information we routinely publish. Details of previous requests supplied under the Act can be found at the bottom of the page. If you don’t find what you are looking for you can formally request the information from the Trust.
A request can be submitted by email.
When will my request be answered?
Once we receive your request we will aim to respond within the statutory 20 working days. If we exceed this time limit we will explain the reasons for our delay and estimate how long it will take to meet your request.
There are no charges for information supplied under the Freedom of Information Act
Our response will firstly state whether or not we hold the information you require. If we have the information we will send it to you providing it is not subject to exemption under the FOI Act.
Information subject to exemption may include information accessible to you by other means or personal information. A full list of exemptions can be obtained on the ICO website.
If we are unable to supply the information to you because of exemptions we will explain why this is the case and let you know of any other steps you may be entitled to take to access the information.
If you have any questions about FOI please contact us via email.
What is the Freedom of Information Act 2000?
It is a law passed by the Government that gives you the right to request information from public services. The aim of the Act is to promote trust and confidence in our public services, including the NHS, by providing clear information and being open about what we do.
What information can I obtain?
You can obtain information about the business processes of the Trust. We are making the majority of corporate information we produce available on our website. This Scheme contains a guide to the types of information we regularly publish or intend to publish in the near future.
What types of information is being made available?
The Act refers to “classes” of information, and a class is the information available on particular subjects such as employment policies and procedures, the range of services we provide and how we deliver them. The Publication Scheme is divided into classes to make it easier to navigate and, where possible, will direct people straight to the information. See Part Two for more details.
Can I get information about myself or other patients?
The Freedom of Information Act does not change the legal right of patients to protection of their patient confidentiality. Maintaining this right of confidentiality is an important commitment for all NHS organisations. To help with this, all Trusts have appointed a Director with special responsibility to ensure the protection of patient confidentiality throughout each Trust in accordance with patient legal rights.
You may obtain access to your own health records under Data Protection legislation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I be able to get all of the Trust’s information?
The right to obtain information may be limited by some exemptions, which are listed within the Act. The effect of the exemptions is that we may not be able to supply all or part of the information requested. If possible we will supply the information requested with the exempt information removed.
Is there a charge for information supplied?
Ordinarily we will charge no fee for documents contained within our Publication Scheme, unless the supply of information requires us to carry out significant amounts of work or photocopying. Requests for information not contained within the Publication Scheme will be managed in accordance with the fees regulations issued by the Government.
How do I get information not published on the website?
The Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust is made up of Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and Salford Royal Foundation NHS Trust.
The quickest route is via e-mail: email us You can also make your request in writing to the Freedom of Information Co-ordinator. The request must include your name and address so that we can contact you. You do not need to tell us why you want the information, however you must give us enough detail about the information you require to allow us to correctly identify and find it. If we require a fee we shall inform you of this once we have received your request. We have 20 working days to send you the information you have requested. Your application may be sent in a number of ways:
Information Access Team,
Room F4, First Floor,
Medical Records Building,
Royal Oldham Hospital,
Rochdale Road,
Oldham.
OL1 2JH.
- By post:
- Or you can email your request to FreedomofInformationRequests@nca.nhs.uk
Please clearly indicate that your request is for information about Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
Complaints and appeals
Any complaints about our handling of your request or about our Publication Scheme should in the first instance sent to the above address.
You are also free to contact the independent regulator with responsibility for ensuring organisations comply with the Freedom of Information Act:
The Information Commissioner Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 54 57 45
The information is grouped into broad categories. Please click on the links below to view the information under each category. The categories are as follows:
Who we are and what we do - This class of information includes organisational information, locations and contacts, constitutional and legal governance.
What we spend and how we spend it - This section includes financial information relating to income and expenditure, tendering, procurement and contracts, annual reports and information about charitable funding
What our priorities are and how we are doing - This category includes strategy and performance information, plans, assessments, inspections and reviews such as our annual business plan, corporate objectives, core standards declaration and Trust Board papers.
Our policies and procedures - Here we publish current written policies and procedures that govern the way we provide services and carry out our responsibilities.
Declaration of Interests - This section includes information held in registers required by law and other lists and registers relating to our responsibilities. Examples include the declaration of interests made by members of the Trust Board
The bodies involved in the monitoring and/or inspection of our services are:
- Audit Commission (www.audit-commission.gov.uk)
- British Psychological Society (www.bps.org.uk)
- Care Quality Commission (www.cqc.org.uk)
- Coroner’s Offices www.coronersofficer.org.uk
- General Medical Council (www.gmc-uk.org)
- Health and Safety Executive (www.hse.gov.uk)
- Health Service Ombudsman www.ombudsman.org.uk)
- Health Professions Council (www.hpc-uk.org)
- Home Office Mental Health Unit (www.homeoffice.gov.uk)
- Local Authority Child Protection Teams
- Local Authority Environmental Health offices.
- Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) (www.mca.gov.uk)
- National Patient Safety Agency (www.npsa.nhs.uk)
- NHS Counter Fraud Authority (www.cfa.nhs.uk
- NHS Estates (www.dh.gov.uk)
- NHS Resolution (https://resolution.nhs.uk/)
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (www.nmc-uk.org)
- NHS North West (www.northwest.nhs.uk)
Useful Information and Resources
About the Environmental Information Regulations (2004)
The Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) give members of the public the right to access environmental information held by public authorities. The request can be made by letter, e-mail, telephone or in person. Environmental information is divided into the following six 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 that they may be affected by the state of the elements of the environment).
Public authorities are legally obliged to provide information on any of the areas mentioned above, usually within 20 working days. There are a number of exceptions to this rule - for example, if the information is likely to prejudice national security - and if this is the case, the public authority must explain why the exception applies.
For further information about Environmental Information Regulations visit: https://ico.org.uk/
Useful websites
Bury CCG (www.buryccg.nhs.uk)
Data Protection Act 1998 (www.ico.gov.uk)
Department of Health (www.dh.gov.uk)
Dr Foster (www.drfosterintelligence.co.uk)
Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale CCG (www.hmr.nhs.uk)
Manchester CCG (www.manchesterccg.nhs.uk)
Health Information Resources (www.library.nhs.uk)
National Institute for Clinical Effectiveness (NICE) (www.nice.org.uk)
NHS Careers (www.jobs.nhs.uk)
NHS Supply Chain (NHSSC) (www.supplychain.nhs.uk)
Oldham CCG (www.oldhamccg.nhs.uk)
NHS Improvement (www.improvement.nhs.uk)
Care Quality Commission (CQC) (www.cqc.org.uk)
