Access to health and staff records
The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to access recorded information held by public sector organisations.
Anyone can request information – there are no restrictions on your age, nationality or where you live.
Recorded information includes printed documents, computer files, letters, emails, photographs, and sound or video recordings.
The Freedom of Information Act does not change the rights of patients to protect their confidentiality. If you want to see information the Trust holds about you, you can make a subject access request to see your records.
Before you make a request
You might not need to make a Freedom of Information (FOI) request to get the information you need. We might be able to give you the information straight away, including on our website.
Use our Publication Scheme to find information we proactively publish.
What to include
All requests must be made in writing, either by email or letter. It would help us if you could include the following information when making a request:
• Name
• Email or correspondence address
• A full and concise description of the information required
Submit a request by email to:
- hrch.freedomofinformation@nhs.net (for Richmond community requests)
- khft.
foienquiries (for Kingston Hospital requests)@nhs.net
When you will get a response
We will respond to your request within 20 working days. If it is likely that we will not meet this deadline, we will tell you as soon as possible.
Costs
Most requests are free, but you might be asked to pay a small amount for photocopies or postage. We will tell you if you must pay anything.
Exemptions
Some sensitive information is not available to members of the public. If this applies, we will tell you why we cannot give you some or all of the information you requested.
We might ask you to be more specific so we can provide just the information you need.
A Freedom of Information (FOI) request can also be turned down if it will cost more than £450 to find and extract the information.