The Freedom of Information Act allows members of the public have certain rights to access information created and held by the Trust. Under the Act public authorities, of which East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust is one, have two main duties:
- To respond to written requests from members of the public for information held by the authority
- To maintain a Publication Scheme
Our Publication Scheme makes available any information routinely published by the Trust.
We are completing a piece of work to retrospectively publish our responses between April 2023 and March 2024. However if you require any information or responses in the meantime please contact FOI@elht.nhs.uk.
Previous Freedom of Information requests can be accessed here.
The purpose of the Act is to encourage a more open culture in the public sector and to give the public access to the information created by public authorities in their day-to-day decision-making.
The Act means that members of the public from anywhere in the world can request information, subject to certain exemptions, relating to the Trust's business, for example about our buildings or how we spend our money.
Access to your own personal records that may be held by the Trust is not covered by this Act: this still falls under the Data Protection Act.
If you would like access to your medical records, please contact Access and Requests, Burnley General Teaching Hospital, Casterton Avenue, Burnley, BB10 2PQ or email
SubjectAccessRequest@elht.nhs.uk
For access to other personal information that the Trust holds on you, please contact The Data Protection Officer, IG-Issues@elht.nhs.uk
The idea of being more open in the public sector is not new. For many years the UK has been moving towards more openness, allowing members of the public limited rights of access to certain information, for example, the Data Protection Acts 1984, 1998 and 2018; Access to Health Records Act 1990; The Code of Practice on Openness in the NHS. The Freedom of Information Act was passed in December 2000 following a pledge by the government at that time to introduce it as part of their manifesto.
Your rights - The Freedom of Information Act 2000 gives people the right to access information held by public authorities. Under the Act anyone, not just residents in the UK, can request information.
Some of the information you want may already be available via our Publication Scheme or may have been answered in a previous Freedom of Information request. Please check there first. If you would like to request information held by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, which is not included in our Publication Scheme, please read the following set of guidelines.
Details of previous requests supplied under the Act can be found on the previously requested FOI section of our site. If you don’t find what you are looking for you can formally request the information from the Trust.
Requests for information must be made in writing. Telephone requests cannot be accepted. We accept requests in the form of:
- Letter
Send your request to:
Freedom of Information Requests
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
Information Governance
Corporate Offices Building
Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital
Haslingden Road
Blackburn
BB2 3HH
Or email: foi@elht.nhs.uk
You must include your full contact details, stating in what format you would like to receive the information.
We will send you confirmation of the request, including a reference, which you should quote in any communication with us relating to your request. We will also tell you when you should expect a reply, which, under the terms of the Act, has to be within 20 working days.
In some cases it will be necessary to charge you for the information. If it is determined that a charge is necessary, you will be issued with a fees notice, which you must pay within 3 months. If this is not paid, we will not provide you with the information you requested. If the charges for the request exceed the set upper limit of £450, we will give you some assistance as to what information could be provided to bring the cost below the limit.
Under the terms of the Act some of the information you request may be exempt from disclosure. If this is the case, we will inform you as to what information we will and will not disclose including what exemption/s have been applied.
Occasionally, our response may take longer than the 20 working days prescribed in the Act because of applying exemptions.
If this is the case we will inform you, giving you a date by which we hope to have replied. If any further delays occur, we will advise you of them as necessary.
Once payment (if required) has been made, we will send you the information requested, provided it is held by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust and is not exempt from disclosure. We will try to supply the information in the format you requested, as far as possible.
If we know that the information is held by another public authority, we can transfer your request and contact details to the authority. If you do not want us to do this, then please let us know and we will supply you with relevant contact details of the other public authority so that you can make the request yourself.
If you do not think that your request for information has been handled satisfactorily, you have the right to have an internal investigation carried out into the way your request has been handled. Complaints should be directed to:
Head of Information Governance/Data Protection Officer
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
Information Governance
Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital
Haslingden Road
Blackburn
BB2 3HH
The information sent to you is subject to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust's copyright, unless otherwise indicated. Unless expressly indicated on the material to the contrary, it may be reproduced free of charge in any format or medium, provided it is reproduced accurately and not used in a misleading manner.
Where any of the copyright items are being re-published or copied to others, you must identify the source of the material and acknowledge the copyright status. Permission to reproduce material does not extend to any material provided to you that is the copyright of third parties. You must obtain authorisation to reproduce such material from the copyright holders concerned.
For HMSO Guidance Notes on a range of copyright issues, see the National Archives website or contact:
The National Archives,
Kew, Richmond,
Surrey, TW9 4DU
Tel: 020 8876 3444
To view responses to past Freedom of Information requests received by East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, please click on the link below.