Under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act 2000, you have the right to ask for information held by public sector organisations; this includes the NHS. The FOI Act is overseen by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). Find out more about the Act and about the ICO on the Information Commissioner's Office website.

Making a request under the Freedom of Information Act

The FOI Act requires every public authority to have a publication scheme where information is routinely available to the public. You can use the pages in this section to see if the information you want is already on our website:

Freedom of information: Who we are and what we do

Find key information and statistics about the Trust and what we do here.

How we fit into the NHS structure

The Trust's services are commissioned by the local clinical commissioning groups, mainly NHS Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group. The Trust is a part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS), a partnership of NHS and local government organisations working together to improve the health and wellbeing of our local communities.

The Trust is regulated by Monitor, an independent organisation appointed by Parliament to authorise and oversee NHS Foundation Trusts. Monitor now forms part of NHS England and NHS Improvement, which leads the NHS in England. Local health systems are supported by its seven regional teams across England and Southampton is in the south east region.

Our work as a Trust is based upon the strategic direction established by the Department of Health and Social Care. The Department of Health and Social Care website has links to the key national documents that guide our Trust and the wider NHS.

Organisational structure

UHS is managed by the Trust Board, which consists of executive directors and non-executive directors, led by the chairman.

The Council of Governors is the collective body through which executive and non-executive directors explain and justify their actions. It works closely with the Trust Board to make sure services are meeting the needs of the local community.

The Council of Governors consists of 22 members who will gather the views of the hospital's members and give them a voice at the highest level of the organisation.

See how the Trust is structured by looking at our Trust organisational chart.

Organisations with which the Trust works in partnership

UHS works in collaboration with a multitude of other organisations across its range of services including as part of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICS.

As the Trust is a major centre for teaching and research, close working relationships have been established with the University of Southampton, Medical Research Council, Wellcome Trust and Cancer Research UK.

The Trust also works closely with:

South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
other local NHS Trusts such as Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, Solent NHS Trust, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Isle of Wight NHS Trust and Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust
local commissioners including NHS Hampshire, Southampton and Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group
local councils, particularly Southampton City Council and Hampshire County Council.

Senior staff and management board members

Short biographies and roles and responsibilities of the executive and non-executive directors of the Trust can be found on the How the Trust is run pages.

Details of the Council of Governors can be found via links on the Council of Governors pages.

Contact details

Find out how you can get in touch with the Trust.

Freedom of information: What we spend and how we spend it

Staff and board members allowances and expenses

Claims can be made in line with the guidance set out in the NHS terms and conditions of service handbook on the NHS employers website.

Staff pay and grading structures

Pay and grading structures within the Trust follow the national Agenda for Change structure. More information about Agenda for Change can be found on the NHS employers website.

Information regarding senior manager salaries can be found in our annual report.

Procurement and tendering procedures

Read our standing financial instructions for information about procurement and tendering procedures.

You can read our supplier representative procedure here.

Details of contracts currently being tendered

Large value tenders are published on the European Union Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) website.

Expenditure over £25K

We publish details of all spending over £25,000 for at least the last six years.

Trade union facility time

Facility time is paid time-off during working hours for trade union representatives to carry out trade union duties. Facility time data for the Trust is published here.

Annual statement of accounts

See Trust annual reports and accounts.

A finance report is presented at each Trust board meeting. You can find the latest finance report in the finance section of the most recent Trust Board papers. Papers from previous meetings are also available.

Standing financial instructions

The Trust must make sure its financial business follows the law and government policy. Read about this in our standing financial instructions.

Freedom of information: What are our priorities and how are we doing

The Trust routinely publishes information relating to its aims, targets and achievements. Please see the list below of information that is available to the public, with links to where it can be found on the Trust website.

Annual report

Read the Trust annual reports and accounts.

Clinical governance

Clinical governance describes the way in which healthcare organisations and their staff ensure the delivery of high quality healthcare. You can find our latest patient safety report, our patient experience report, our patient outcomes/clinical effectiveness report and our statement of internal control in the papers from Trust Board meetings.

Read our strategies on patient experience and experience of care here.

You can read about our continual plans for delivering single sex accommodation.

Our performance

You can read about how we are performing on our performance pages, including results from our latest CQC inspection.

Key performance indicators

Read our latest key performance indicators by looking at the Trust Board minutes.

Service user surveys

Find out more about what patients think of our care on our patient experience and satisfaction pages.

Freedom of Information: Our policies and procedures

If you want to obtain a copy of a particular policy document please contact the Freedom of Information office.

Policies and procedures relating to the conduct of business and the provision of services

Read some of our Trust policies:

Freedom of Information Act policy (currently under review)
Health and safety policy
Records management policy
You can also find out more about the following areas on our website:
Emergency planning
Equality, diversity and inclusivity

Policies and procedures relating to recruitment and employment

Current job vacancies at the Trust are advertised on the NHS Jobs website. You can also visit our dedicated recruitment and careers website careers.uhs.nhs.uk.

You can find out more about work experience at the Trust on the careers experience page, which also includes our careers experience policy.

Standing financial procedures

Read our standing financial instructions.

Standing orders

Read about our standing orders procedures in annexes 6 and 7 of the UHS constitution.

Complaints and other customer service policies and procedures

Visit the getting help, raising concerns or making a complaint section of our website for further information, including leaflets you can download about feedback and complaints, and contact details of where to send your feedback.

Data protection

Read our Data protection and confidentiality policy.

You may also like to view our confidentiality and use of patient information leaflet , and our keeping it confidential poster which is on display in the hospital.

Freedom of Information: Lists and registers

Board of Directors - Register of Interests 2024 - 25

Size: 123KBType: pdf

Freedom of Information: How we make decisions

Board papers

Papers for the Trust board are available to show decisions made and matters discussed.

Patient and public involvement

We have over 20,000 members of the Trust, made up of local people, patients, carers and staff. Find out more by visiting the members' pages of the website.

You can find information about other ways you can get involved in our get involved section.

This website is regularly updated with our latest news and developments. You can also follow the Trust on Twitter at http://twitter.com/uhsft

Internal communications guidance

The Trust uses several different methods to share information with staff. Key news items are sent to all staff in a weekly email providing links to the Trust's intranet and its own Workplace communication platform where more detailed information is available. The Trust's intranet, known as the staffnet, is also used to share a regular Bitesized Briefing for staff containing the latest news and key messages from across the Trust, as well as lots of other information about the Trust, its services and policies and procedures.

Freedom of Information: The services we offer

Clinical services

For a full list of all our clinical services see the index page of our services, or use the 'Browse site A to Z' on the left of this page.

Read about our consultants in our directory of consultants.

Non-clinical services

A list of Trust departments can be found on our departments page.

Patient information leaflets and other booklets and newsletters

General patient and visitor information, including visiting times, and shops and facilities on the hospital site, can be found in the patients and visitors sections.

Patient information on specific conditions, treatments and services can be found by browsing the our departments section or may be provided by your healthcare professional when you attend the hospital.

Read the Trust's confidentiality and use of patient information patient leaflet.

Send us feedback about the Trust, for example by printing and completing the feedback form in our Have your say leaflet.

Patient support services

Visit the patient support service page on this website.

Corporate communications and media releases

Visit the news and publications section of our website to find information including how to make a media enquiry to the Trust, and read the Trust's latest news.

If the information you require is not published, you can make a FOI request to see if the information is available.

You can submit your Freedom of Information request through a new portal here. You will need to create an account which will allow you to submit your request, view the progress and let you download copies. The portal has full instructions, FAQ’s and a user guide to help you with the process.

If you need support with this, please email freedomofinformation@uhs.nhs.uk or write to us at the following address:

Freedom of Information officer
Mailpoint 180
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Tremona Road
Southampton
SO16 6YD

What happens when I make a request?

We will make every effort to provide you with the information you have requested. We may need to ask you a few questions to make sure we know exactly what you want. We will then check to see if we hold the information you have requested.

If we have the information you will normally be given a copy within 20 working days. We will try to provide the information in the way you prefer, eg on paper or electronically.

If we do not have the information you have requested we will tell you as soon as possible. If we can, we will suggest where else you may be able to get it.

What information will not be provided?

There may be some documents or information that we cannot release. Examples of information we may not be able to release are:

someone else's confidential/personal information
a company's trade secrets
information given to us in confidence

If we cannot release some or all of the information you have requested we will tell you and explain why.

Is there a charge for information?

As a general rule anything in our publication scheme can be downloaded free of charge. If information won't take long to find and copy it will be free. If it will take considerable time to gather and provide it, a moderate fee may be charged.

Charges will always be in line with Government regulations. We will let you know about a charge as soon as we can. If a charge is payable we will wait for your payment before sending you the information.

Can someone else see my personal information?

The Freedom of Information Act does not change your right to confidentiality. Your personal information is protected under the Data Protection Act 2018 and will not be shared with anyone who is not entitled to it.

Obtaining other information

If you have a simple question you would like answered our patient support services may be able to help you.

How to request a review

If you are unhappy with the way we handled your request for information you can request an internal review by contacting us on the portal or via post at the following address:

Freedom of Information officer
Mailpoint 180
University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
Tremona Road
Southampton
SO16 6YD

The internal review will be carried out by someone who was not involved in the original response.

If you are still unhappy after you receive a response to the internal review you can then take your complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). More information can be found on the Information Commissioner's Office website.