Information Governance Officer

Working closely with other members of the Information Governance department and staff across the Trust, you will process requests for information, preparing disclosures for patients, staff, solicitors and courts.

To succeed in this role; you will need to have excellent communication skills and the ability to develop working relationships with staff across the Trust, patients and members of the public.

You must be well organised with excellent computer skills. The ability to work unsupervised with a high degree of accuracy while carrying out a variety of administrative tasks is essential.

The main purpose of the job is to process requests for information in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Access to Health Records Act 1990. This includes:

- Collecting and opening post on a daily basis
- Logging requests for information into Trust systems
- Maintaining up-to-date tracking systems for every request
- Assessing what information is being requested
- Extracting information from Trust systems and databases
- Determining whether or not the requested information can be disclosed
- Sending health records to Clinicians for reports or consent
- Escalating requests to Senior IG Officers where necessary
- Forwarding requests to other departments/Specialties
- Making relevant copies of requested information
- Requesting consent from patients and collecting fees, where appropriate
- Packaging requested information for recorded delivery
- Liaising with other members of the Information Governance team to ensure requests are processed within the statutory timeframe

Guy’s and St Thomas’ is one of the largest hospital trusts in the country, with around 22,000 staff; an annual turnover of more than £2.4 billion; and 2.2 million patient contacts a year. Our hospitals have a long and proud history, dating back almost 900 years, and have been at the forefront of medical progress and innovation since they were founded. We continue to build on these traditions and have a reputation for clinical, teaching and research excellence.

As an organisation we are committed to developing our services in ways that best suit the needs of our patients. This means that some staff groups will increasingly be asked to work a more flexible shift pattern so that we can offer services in the evenings or at weekends. We also have a positive approach to corporate social responsibility and are keen to engage our staff in an agenda that ranges from promoting environmental sustainability to the creation of local employment opportunities.
- To process all information requests ensuring that they are correctly documented and entered onto the department database
- To be responsible for the accurate input and maintenance of confidential data on to the department’s database
- To monitor the database to ensure that no requests breach the statutory timescale
- To work flexibly to ensure that all information requests that are received by the Trust are processed lawfully. This will include liaising with other teams and departments and accessing health information in whichever media it is held
- To be able to liaise with the management team regarding information requests which are likely to breach the statutory timescale, to provide relevant information to as to the cause and to consider solutions
- To foster good working relationships with colleagues and where necessary arrange meetings with Clinicians or their secretaries, or FOIA Leads to ensure that it is appropriate to disclose information
- To be responsive to the needs of the customers of the Information Governance Department at all times and to provided them with a high quality and efficient service
- To participate in department development as appropriate and to participate in departmental meetings
- To strictly adhere to all departmental policies with regards to processing requests for information
- To ensure compliance with all relevant Trust policies and provide assurance on IG standards through audits
- Any other duties and tasks as may be required, appropriate to the level of the post.