The Freedom of Information Act gives you the right to ask any public body for all the information they have on any subject you choose. Unless there’s a good reason, the public body must provide the information within 20 working days. You can also ask for all the personal information they hold on you. Everyone can make a request for information – there are no restrictions on your age, nationality, or where you live.
You can ask for any information at all – but some information might be withheld to protect various interests which are allowed for by the Act. If this is case, the public authority must tell you why they have withheld information. If you ask for information about yourself, then your request will be handled under the General Data Protection Regulations.
As an independent provider of health services (defined as an NHS Business Partner), however, FDS Consultants is not a public authority and therefore does not need to comply with all aspects of the Freedom of Information Act (2000). However, for those services that we operate on behalf of the NHS we are required to respond under the FOI Act.
If you would like to make a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, please contact NHS England. When asked for information by NHS England, FDS Consultants will comply with all requests that are not commercially confidential or in breach of the guiding principles of the General Data Protection Regulations (2018). You may also contact us directly, stating that you are making an FOI request, if you believe that your request relates to our services.
If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact us.
More information on the Freedom of Information act can be found on the DirectGov website. You can link to it here.
You might be interested in our privacy policies and data protection processes, including information on how we process your data. You can find out more by visiting this page.
You have the right to get a copy of the information that is held about you. This is known as a subject access request. This right of subject access means that you can make a request under the General Data Protection Regulations to any organisation, including ours, processing your personal data. Under the Act FDS Consultants are ‘data processors’.
You can ask us, to supply you with copies of both paper and computer records and related information. From the 25th May 2018 there is no charge for this information. However it is important to remember that not all personal information is covered and there are ‘exemptions’ within the Act which may allow an organisation to refuse to comply with your subject access request in certain circumstances.
It is important to note that we do not hold your dental records we only hold information on your referral(s).
To make a subject access request, follow these steps:
When requesting your personal information from us, you should include the following information:
You also have the right to ask about any logic involved in any automated decisions made about you. The dental referral service does not use any automated decision making processes in how you access care.
Please send your request in writing by posting it to us at the address below. Please tell us how you would like us to send the information to you – using email or post. Both carry risks, so consider who else may have access your email or your post.
Subject Access Request Manager
Dental Referral Management Centre
6 The Offices, Stannian Fold,
Lymm, Warrington
WA13 9AB
