Freedom of information requests

You can submit a freedom of information request by emailing imperial.foi@nhs.net.

The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000 and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) 2004 give members of the public the right to access information held by public sector organisations.  The FOI Act and EIR mean we are obliged to make certain pieces of information available online and provide information to members of the public on request.

The main principle behind freedom of information is that everyone has the right to access official information, and information should only be kept private if there is a good reason to do so and it is permitted by the act.

Anyone can request information held by us and by law we must respond to you. However, there are certain categories of information that are exempt from release, for example, patient identifiable information. Requests for patient identifiable information, such as medical records, should be made to the health records department. 

Read more about which information is covered by the FOI Act and EIR.

How to make a request

Before making a request please make sure the information you’re looking for isn’t already on our website. We have gathered documents and information that are commonly requested in our publication scheme.

 

If the information you need is not on our website, you can:

 

• Email your request to: imperial.foi@nhs.net
• Call our FOI department on: 020 3312 5585
• Write to our freedom of information manager at: communications department, 7th floor, Salton House, St Mary’s Hospital, South Wharf Road, London W2 1NY

How long will you wait?

Once we receive your request, we will send you an acknowledgement letter by post or email. We are obliged by law to send you a response to your enquiry no later than 20 working days after we’ve acknowledged your request.

 

Sometimes we will need to ask you questions to clarify your request. This helps us to provide you with the most satisfactory response.

 

In some cases not all of the information you’ve requested can be released. If this happens, we’ll explain why.

Charges for requests

We don’t generally charge for responses to FOI and EIR requests. However, we’re not legally obliged to respond to your request if we identify that it will take more than 18 hours of our time.