Information Law Services for the NHS

This is especially so for NHS bodies, taking into account the wide-ranging complexity of the work undertaken, the sensitivity of information held about patients and the requirement to work alongside, and share information with, other organisations.

Bevan Brittan is at the forefront of advising the NHS in the UK. We work closely with a substantial number of different organisations within the NHS, including CCGs, CSUs and providers to deliver a full legal service which assists NHS clients function and adapt in innovative ways to their changing landscape.

Our specialist Information Law team is on hand to provide accessible and high-quality advice, ranging from one off queries and instructions to retainer style arrangements to give you comfort that your organisation is legally compliant in this complex area.

We provide advice that is both pragmatic and cost-effective, to ensure that matters are managed proactively and with as little impact as possible on clients' core businesses.

This includes:

• Advising on both generic and high profile requests made under the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations, including advice on exemptions from disclosure, redactions, application of the public interest test and drafting responses to applicants

• Acting for authorities in relation to Freedom of Information referrals to the Information Commissioner's Office and appeals to the First-Tier Tribunal

• Providing advice on a range of data protection issues such as compliance with subject access requests, information security and dealing with data breaches

• Advising on data sharing issues in relation to both emergency one off disclosures and large scale sharing exercises

• Drafting documentation such as data sharing agreements and clauses in commercial documents, data processing agreements, privacy notices and internal data protection policies and protocols

• Representing clients in relation to individuals' complaints of breach of their data processing rights, both to the Information Commissioner's Office and to Court

• Delivering training and workshops on a range of information law matters and practical steps for compliance

• Advising on compliance with the NHS Information Governance Toolkit

By working in partnership with our NHS specialists in other teams across the firm, the information law team can ensure that the advice we provide is tailored to local and national NHS strategy.

If you would to receive any information regarding our information law services please contact a member of the Information Law team (below) or your usual Bevan Brittan contact.

Meet the Information Law team

Emma Godding

Joanna Smart

Jonathan Moore