Freedom of Information Requests
Everyone has a legal right to see information held by Scottish public authorities. To make an FOI request you need to give us your name and a contact address, but you don’t need to tell us anything more about who you are or why you want the information.
We already make some information available to the public. More details about our published information can be found in our Guide to Information available through the Model Publication Scheme.
If you do not find what you want there, you can make a request by emailing us or writing to us:
Freedom of Information Enquiries
Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership
Information Governance Department
NHS Forth Valley
Colquhoun Street
Stirling
FK7 7PX
Phone: 01786 433284
Email: FV.FalkirkIJBFOI@nhs.scot
You can also ask us for environmental information under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
We will answer your request within 20 working days. Sometimes there will be reasons why we cannot provide the information you requested. If that is the case, we will tell you why. If we refuse to give the information to you, we must tell you why. You can challenge our decision to keep information from you and ask us to review our response. If you are unhappy after the review, you can appeal to the Scottish Information Commissioner.
You may also find the Scottish Information Commissioner’s website in understanding the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act.
Subject Access Requests
Data Protection
Our partners, Falkirk Council and NHS Forth Valley, provide services on our behalf. They hold and share personal data about you so that they can deliver integrated health and social care services to you. Personal data is information about you.
We are committed to protecting any personal data we hold and comply with Data Protection Legislation as defined by the Data Protection Act 2018. We will use your details to provide you with the service which you or someone else has asked us or our partners to provide, or to deal with any complaints or concerns you may have. We may also share information with our partners so that they can provide you with better services. We may also use your details for the purposes of crime prevention and crime detection and/or when required by law, and will share it with other public bodies for that purpose.
If you supply personal information to us, it may have to be disclosed to the data subject unless there are good grounds for withholding it. You can find out how we handle personal data at www.falkirk.gov.uk/privacy
Requests for your personal information
You have a right under the Act to see certain information held by us about you. A request to see information held about you is known as a “subject access request”. If you would like to see the information we hold about you, you should write to us.
We have 30 calendar days to respond to your request. There are exemptions in the Act which may mean that we do not need to comply with all, or part, of your request. If you are not happy with how we deal with your request, please let us know and we will try to resolve your complaint. If you are still not happy, you should contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.
For requests for information under the Data Protection Act please write to:
Data Protection Enquiries
Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership
Information Governance Department
NHS Forth Valley
Colquhoun Street
Stirling
FK7 7PX
Phone: 01786 433285
Email: FV.FalkirkIJBSAR@nhs.scot
Publication Scheme
All Scottish public authorities must have a Publication Scheme in place setting out the information they make publicly available, how it can be accessed and whether there is any charge for the information.
We have adopted the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Model Publication Scheme, which is approved until 31 May 2019.
We have produced a Guide to Information available through the Model Publication Scheme. As we are a new authority, we have limited published information. We will publish more information on our web page when available.
Integration Scheme
Integration means that over the next few years, GPs, hospitals, health workers, social care staff and others will increasingly work side-by-side to share information and take a more co-ordinated approach to the way services are delivered.
The Integration Scheme is a legally binding agreement between Falkirk Council and NHS Forth Valley who are known as ‘the parties’ in the Integration Scheme. The scheme describes what the parties will do to enable the Falkirk Integration Joint Board (IJB) to meet its responsibilities (or ‘delegated functions’). It does not describe what the IJB will do in detail. The IJB became responsible for adult and older peoples services from April 2016. The scheme contains high level statements of commitment to ensure flexibility and accommodate future changes.
The Falkirk Health and Social Care Partnership Integration Scheme is available to download below.