Freedom of Information/IG Admin Co-ordinator | The Christie NHS Foundation Trust

Overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for an experienced, knowledgeable Freedom of Information Officer at The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. The right person will have an eye for details and an ambitious approach to proactive release of information to the public, with a dual aim to reduce the impact of FOI requests on services. This role will play an important part in continuing to drive forward compliance with FOI (and Data Protection) Legislation and provide visible professional expertise that motivates and engages teams across the organisation in openness and transparency.

The right candidate will be highly literate, have excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to operate independently, building positive and productive relationships throughout the organisation. They will act as a subject matter expert in the application of FOI exemptions. The post holder should be resilient, self-motivated, politically astute, and able to negotiate challenging situations and interactions.

The post holder will ensure that the Trust maintains compliance with all aspects of the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Maintain the Trust Publication Scheme in line with the wider expectations of the Freedom of Information Act. Supporting with wider Information Governance team workload in driving high standards with patient confidentiality and data protection expectations.

This position offers an exciting opportunity to be a part of the patient centred approach to openness and transparency working both on site and at home.

Responsibilities (Freedom of Information)

• Receive, acknowledge, and log all FOI requests; referring requests to the appropriate senior members of staff, asking them to assist and provide the required information; ensuring staff are aware of their duties and possible applicable exemptions in respect of the Act. Liaise with and co-ordinate responses from various teams to provide a full and comprehensive response.
• Communicate directly with requestors and staff on an individual basis, over the telephone, via email or MSTeams regarding FOI requests; handle these with tact and discretion, recognising that some issues will be of a sensitive and complex nature.
• Maintain a detailed administration system for the recording, processing, and fulfilment of requests for information made under FOI; run queries and create statistical reports as required; maintain and input data to a high level of accuracy.
• Provide advice and support to a broad range of requestors who may not be able to provide a request in writing or to clarify, if necessary, where a FOI request is not valid, too wide, or unclear under our duty to assist (s.16), negotiating revised requests where appropriate. Where necessary, inform the requesting party about any delays to the Trust response.
• Recognise and understand where the requests should be dealt with via a different route, for instance as a Subject Access Request; or whether the request is best answered by another organisation where information is not held by our Trust and be able to articulate such to requestors.
• Maintain specialist knowledge about FOI legislation, the range of exemptions that can apply to requests for information and associated case law. Make informed judgements as required in relation to the use and application of exemptions available under FOI legislation where appropriate; identifying information already publicly available and information previously provided in response to other FOI requests to ensure consistency.
• Provide specialist guidance to managers on the framing and language of responses provided under the FOIA where exemptions may be applicable and how they may be applied and structured. Keep staff and managers across the Trust updated on developments in the field of FOI and provide advice, training, and support where necessary.
• Ensure that all responses include mandatory information required under the FOIA (e.g., about the appeals process, how to contact the ICO etc.) and present this in the agreed corporate format.
• Implement and maintain processes that support FOI requests being dealt with in the statutory timelines.
• Consult with external Third Parties (e.g., suppliers) where their interests may be affected by FOI disclosure (e.g., prejudice to commercial interests s.43), seeking agreement and/or compromise regarding the disclosure of information.
• Carry out the redaction of information contained in a variety of Trust documents where information is exempt under the FOIA.
• Receive often highly complex, sensitive, or contentious information from the Trust’s departments; exercise judgement on how best to present this information and formulate a full response written to a high professional standard in easily comprehensible terms suitable for release into the public domain.
• Carry out research (online) as a matter of routine practice to understand complex requests and information received from staff; monitor decisions notices and changes in guidance issued by the Information Commissioner’s Office; maintain awareness of information and data published by health sector organisations such as NHSE/I, PHE, and other NHS Trusts.
• Accountable to maintain current online FOI disclosure log.
• Triage and assist with the internal review process for FOIs as required when an appeal or complaint is received and work toward an acceptable resolution that prevents escalation to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
• Accountable for the Trust’s FOI Policy content and supporting procedures to maintain compliance with FOI legislation/Code of Practice.

Responsibilities (IG Admin Co-ordinator)

• Provide administrative support to the Information Governance Team as required, such as arranging meetings, distributing information, taking notes; assist with performance reporting for various projects asset management/Data Flow Mapping and committees.
• Triage enquiries for support and guidance, recording and managing through TechBar ticket system.
• Plan, undertake and write up pre set audits as directed regarding information governance compliance making recommendations to driving improvements, covering areas including; Information Asset Register, Confidentiality Spot Checks
• Support with maintenance of the Information Asset Register and its contents, risk assessments
• Facilitate chasing of outstanding audit actions, including those directly from the Caldicott Panel (or other relevant meetings).
• Facilitate monitoring of the overall Trust compliance with Data Security and Data Protection mandatory Training.
• Provide administrative support in processes for creation and review of information sharing agreements and privacy impact assessments across the Trust, maintaining a suitable register.
• Lead on maintaining the IG intranet pages content and publication of pre set cycle of data protection communications content on HIVE (internal intranet)
• Be responsible for implementing procedures for own work area and for proposing changes in line with legislation, Trust and NHS policies and guidelines across the Trust, where appropriate
• Demonstrates the agreed set of values and accountable for own attitude and behaviour

About The Christie

The Christie is one of Europe’s leading cancer centres, treating over 60,000 patients a year. We are based in Manchester and serve a population of 3.2 million across Greater Manchester & Cheshire, but as a national specialist around 15% patients are referred to us from other parts of the country.

We provide radiotherapy through one of the largest radiotherapy departments in the world; chemotherapy on site and through 14 other hospitals; highly specialist surgery for complex and rare cancer; and a wide range of support and diagnostic services. We are also an international leader in research, with world first breakthroughs for over 100 years.

We run one of the largest early clinical trial units in Europe with over 300 trials every year. Cancer research in Manchester, most of which is undertaken on the Christie site, has been officially ranked the best in the UK.

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