ICO conducts performance review of FOI compliance in NHS Trusts

In a blog article, Warren Seddon, Director of Freedom of Information at the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), marks the 20th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) coming into force. In particular, the article focuses on the performance of NHS Trusts in relation to FOI compliance. 

Seddon highlighted that while most NHS trusts in England treat FOI compliance seriously, a small number show significant room for improvement, which has led the ICO to take intervening action.

The ICO regularly receives FOI complaints, particularly concerning timely responses and backlogs. To gain a better understanding of FOI compliance, the ICO examined a representative sample of 31 NHS trusts across England, varying in size and location. This involved reviewing casework data, analysing public information, and visiting eight trusts to gather staff experiences.

The findings showed that compliance with statutory deadlines varied greatly, from 10% to 100%, with an average of 82% across all sampled trusts. Smaller trusts (under 5,000 employees) performed best, with an average compliance rate of 92% and a backlog of 3 requests. Medium trusts (5,000-10,000 employees) averaged 83% compliance with 13 requests in backlog, while large trusts (over 10,000 employees) had an average compliance rate of 71% and a backlog of 86 requests. Despite these variations, only about 0.4% of FOI requests to NHS trusts resulted in an ICO complaint, suggesting overall good performance.

However, trusts identified challenges, including increased request volume and complexity without corresponding resource increases, the inability to prioritise FOI over patient care when frontline staff input is needed, and concerns about releasing information on IT systems, potentially increasing cyberattack vulnerability.

Based on its findings, the ICO encourages all NHS trusts to implement thorough FOI request handling processes that minimise impact on frontline staff, establish networks of contacts and FOI champions, raise awareness about FOI's operation, particularly concerning commercial information requests, and proactively publish commonly requested information. They also advise senior leaders to regularly review their organisation's FOI performance to enable early intervention.

The ICO has also issued enforcement notices to four trusts due to significant backlogs of FOI requests and lengthy wait times for responses. These include: 

• Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust
• Guys & St Thomas NHS Trust