Any member of the public is entitled to make a request to Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust about the information it holds.

However there is quite often some confusion under which piece of legislation a request should be made therefore a brief explanation of each has been provided below:

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA)

The Freedom of Information Act allows anybody to ask any question they choose about information that a public body holds. Providing that the information requested is held by the Trust, does not contain personal information and is not covered by one of the exemptions of the Freedom of Information Act then the Trust have a legal duty to respond to requests within 20 working days.

For further information and to make a request please see our Freedom of Information page.

The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR)

This is very similar to a Freedom of Information request but relates solely to environmental information that the Trust holds.

For further information and to make a request please see our Environmental Information Regulations page.

The Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) – Subject Access Request

A Subject Access request enables individuals access to personal information that the Trust may hold about them such as a medical or personnel record.

For further information and to make a request please see our Data Protection and Patient Confidentiality page.