Choose Well - Choose WWL
Job overview
Are you an organised, motivated and passionate about upholding transparency and accountability in the NHS?
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are seeking a dedicated Freedom of Information (FOI) Officer to join our dynamic Information Governance Team on a 12 month fixed term basis.
You'll play a key role in managing and coordinating Freedom of Information requests, ensuring the Trust meets its obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. Working closely with departments across the organisation, you'll support locating and reviewing information, applying relevant exemptions and prepare accurate, timely responses to applicants including members of the public, media and other sources.
If you enjoy problem solving, working collaboratively and delivering measurable impact - we'd love to hear from you!
We offer flexible working with a blend of office and home-based arrangements.
This vacancy is open to internal and external candidates.
37.5 hours per week - Monday to Friday (no on call requirements).
Please note that this vacancy may close early if a sufficient number of applications are received. We encourage interested candidates to apply promptly to avoid disappointment.
This vacancy is open to all internal candidates. NHS Employees should ideally secure their manager’s agreement for a secondment arrangement ideally prior to applying, as this will be a condition of any offer made.
This vacancy is advertised on a fixed term basis for 12 to provide cover for a substantive employee on secondment and will end in December 2026 or when the substantive postholder returns. Whilst this post is advertised on a fixed term / secondment basis there is the potential that this post may become permanent in the future.
Main duties of the job
The main duties will include:
1. Coordinate, monitor and respond to incoming FOI requests within statutory deadlines.
2. Apply exemptions appropriately and assist in conducting public interest tests
3. liaise with internal teams to gather and validate information
4. maintain accurate records and contribute to performance reporting
5. support wider Information Governance initiatives including: transparency, records management and publication schemes
6. Provide advice and guidance to staff on FOI processes and best practice.
Working for our organisation
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust are the proud providers of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, we value our staff believing that ‘happy staff, makes for happy patients’. We have a recognised track record in staff engagement and living our values.
·People at the Heart
·Listen and Involve
·Kind and Respectful
·ONE Team
WWL are committed to placing the patient at the heart of everything we do, and in the provision of safe, effective care that acknowledges and ensures dignity. We are seeking to recruit people who share our values and beliefs.
At WWL we value the benefits a rich and diverse workforce brings to our community and therefore welcome applications from all sections of society.
COVID-19 vaccination remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course our patients from the virus when working in our healthcare settings. Whilst COVID-19 vaccination is not a condition of employment, we do encourage our staff to get vaccinated. If you are unvaccinated there is helpful advice and information available by contacting covid-19.vaccine@wwl.nhs.uk where you can also ask about how to access vaccinations.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
7. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of various legislation such as the Data Protection Act but, more specifically the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations, acting as a source of expertise and guidance to Trust staff within the organisation.
8. Provide statistical information to the Information Governance Officer/Manager, to support ongoing monitoring of Trust compliance with core performance standards, using knowledge of statistical process control techniques.
9. Produce monthly document control performance reports for executive review, ensuring that all information is timely and accurate, based on knowledge of key performance indicators around corporate governance.
10. Maintain and update own knowledge of developments in Freedom of Information / Environmental Information Regulations and their related statutory instruments/policies.
11. Assist the Information Governance Officer in administering the process of appeals against refusal of Freedom of Information and Environmental Information Regulation request decisions, maintaining a log of the issues actions taken.
12. Analyses information provided by departments in order to provide responses to Freedom of Information queries
13. Analyses trends of requests and provide those finding in report form.
For further information, please see attachments.
Person specification
Additional
Essential criteria
14. Speak English to an appropriate standard relevant to the role, i.e with confidence and accuracy, using correct sentence structures and vocabulary and without hesitation
15. Flexible approach to work
16. Hardworking
17. Professional appearance / attitude
18. Ability to remain calm under pressure
19. Ability to travel independently to other locations within the Trust as required
20. Ability to travel to other locations within the Trust
Desirable criteria
21. Ability to handle difficult circumstances
22. Full and clean UK Driving licence
Knowledge
Essential criteria
23. Knowledge of the NHS
24. Knowledge of the Access to Health Records legislation
25. Knowledge of the General Data Protection Regulations and the UK Data Protection Act
26. Full knowledge of the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations
Desirable criteria
27. Commitment to CPD
Skills
Essential criteria
28. Excellent Communication Skills
29. Ability to prioritise workload
30. Able to communicate both written and verbally with all levels of staff
31. Computer literate and knowledge of Microsoft Office
32. Ability to deal sensitively with confidential information
33. Excellent organisational skills
34. Advanced keyboard skills
35. Ability to use own initiative and work under direction
36. Ability to work as part of a team
37. Able to extract and analyse information from databases
Experience
Essential criteria
38. Experience of adhering to targets
39. Relevant NHS experience of the Data Protection Act
40. Experience of HIS, EPR and Patient Centre
41. Ability to prioritise workloads to tight deadlines
42. Demonstrate experience of using Microsoft Word / Excel spreadsheets
43. Day to day management and supervisory experience
Desirable criteria
44. Ability to use Microsoft Office Packages
45. Awareness of organisational policies, procedures and guidelines
46. Customer service focused experience
Qualifications
Essential criteria
47. 5 GCSE's level 4-9 / Grade A*-C including Maths and English
48. NVQ Level 3 in Business Administration or equivalent
Desirable criteria
49. ECDL
Use of Artificial Intelligence in Job Applications
If you choose to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other automated tools to help draft your application, please ensure all content is personalised and an accurate reflection of your own skills, experience and professional judgement. AI may be useful for idea generation, grammar, or formatting, but it must not replace your own supporting statement or be relied on as the sole source of content.
Wrightington Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust does not advocate reliance on AI during applications and expects applications to be genuine and tailored to the role; over-reliance on AI-generated text may negatively affect your application.
For further information and best practice on using AI when applying for NHS roles, please refer to the attached “Applying for a role in the NHS guidance”.
Employer certification / accreditation badges
Documents to download
50. Freedom of Information Officer (PDF, 235.3KB)
51. Freedom of Information Officer (PDF, 160.9KB)
52. What WWL Can Offer You (PDF, 42.7KB)
53. Applying for NHS vacancies guidance (PDF, 241.2KB)
Apply online now
Further details / informal visits contact
NameStephen HandJob titleDeputy Information Governance ManagerEmail addressStephen.Hand@wwl.nhs.ukTelephone number03007073892Additional information
Please primarily contact via email.
If you have problems applying, contact
Address Buckingham Row
Brick Kiln Lane
Wigan
WN1 1XX
Telephone 07786529393