Information Governance Coordinator

Bedfordshire Hospitals; Bedford; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Full time

Job summary

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in Bedford is seeking an Information Governance Coordinator to join the IG Department. The post supports FOI/DP Act processing, information governance administration, and statutory timescale compliance.

You will liaise with Trust staff to ensure deadlines are met and maintain both electronic and paper filing systems. The role focuses on operational coordination, handling FOI requests, Subject Access Requests, and other IG tasks with a strong emphasis

Qualifications

• GCSE level education or equivalent.
• BCS Foundation certificate in Data Protection or equivalent experience.
• BCS Freedom Of Information certificate in Data Protection or equivalent experience.
• Experience handling confidential information with NHS systems knowledge.

Responsibilities

• Support operational processes for FOI and Data Protection Act requests.
• Coordinate with staff to meet legal deadlines.
• Assist in protecting information exempt from disclosure as required by law.
• Process information sharing requests for informed decision-making.
• Identify exemptions and Public Interest Test applicability.
• Assist colleagues to ensure information meets Act requirements.
• Maintain filing systems for FOI records, upload to public site.
• Identify trends and potential future information availability.
• Compile statistics on requests, response times, and complexity.

Skills

Confidential data handling

Time management

Written and verbal communication

Interpersonal skills

Education

GCSE or equivalent

BCS Foundation in Data Protection

BCS FOI certificate

Tools

Microsoft 365

MS Teams

SharePoint

Job description

Main area Freedom of Information & Information Governance Grade NHS AfC: Band 4 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 418-COR8761-SSJ

Site Bedford Borough Hall Town Bedford Salary £28,392 - £31,157 pa Salary period Yearly Closing 19/11/2026 23:59

Job overview

The Information Governance Coordinator will be a member of the Information Governance (IG) Department, which is made up of the Head of Information Governance, IG Manager, Deputy IG Manager, IG Officers, and IG Administrators.

The IG Department is responsible for supporting and coordinating the Trust's compliance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000, UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018, Access to Health Records Act 1990, and other relevant legal, statutory and regulatory requirements.

The primary aim of the role is to provide operational support to the Information Governance Team by coordinating and processing requests received under the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection legislation, and the Access to Health Records Act. The post holder will be responsible for managing a varied workload including Freedom of Information requests, Subject Access Requests, information governance administration, and other ad hoc duties as required, ensuring that all work is completed accurately and within statutory timescales.

Main duties of the job

• Provide appropriate support to ensure operational processes are followed when requests for information under the Data Protection Act and the FOI Act are received
• Liaise with staff across the Trust to ensure legal deadlines are met.
• Work as part of the IG team to ensure information exempt from disclosure is protected as required by law.
• Provide support to ensure requests for information sharing are processed as required to enable an informed decision to be made.
• Assist the IG Manager in identifying where exemptions may apply and where the Public Interest Test needs to be applied
• Assisting those who are contributing to requests for information to ensure the information that is provided meets the requirements of the Act.
• Build working relations with other NHS Trusts and neighbouring public organisations to ensure a consistent countywide approach to blanket FOI requests and to identify lessons learnt.
• Maintain electronic and paper filing systems in relation to FOI and ensuring disclosure of requests are available for uploading to the Trusts public website.
• To identify trends in information requests and establish whether information requested could be more readily available in the future.
• Compile statistical reports on the numbers of requests received, the time taken to respond to them and their level of complexity.
• Developing and maintaining extensive knowledge of the FOI Act and changes in legislation
• Any other duties as required by the IG Manager

Working for our organisation

Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust provides hospital services to a growing population of around 700,000 people living across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas across two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Both hospital sites offer key services such as A&E, Obstetrics-led Maternity and Paediatrics. You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff.As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

Our values
We not only recruit based on qualifications and experience - we recruit individuals who demonstrate the behaviours which underpin our Trust's core values. We achieve this by using values based recruitment. We are dedicated to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone, we are committed to promoting equality and diversity, and creating a culture that values differences.
Please note that vacancies may close prior to the advertised closing date when a sufficient number of applications have been received. All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering first 6 months in post. Travel between hospital sites may be required. Please review all documents attached to ensure you familiarise yourself with all requirements of the job.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Please see the attached Job Description and Person Specification for a full detailed overview of the duties and responsibilities.

Person specification

Qualifications

• GCSE Level of education or equivalent
• BCS Foundation cert in Data Protection or equivalent experience
• BCS Freedom Of Information certificate in Data Protection or equivalent experience

Experience

• Working and dealing with confidential matters
• Prioritising and using own initiative including Planning and Time management
• Knowledge of NHS systems
• Working knowledge of Information Right Acts

Knowledge

• Excellent written and verbal communications skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills/Excellent customer relations
• Ability to plan and prioritise own workload and meet deadlines
• Ability to understand when issues are arising and escalates them quickly and appropriately
• Ability to receive, understand and communicate complex information
• Good understanding of Microsoft O365 including MS Teams and Sharepoint
• Good understanding of the Data Protection act, General Data protection regulations, Access to health records Act and Freedom of Information Act
• Working in a large and complex organisation
• Demonstrable experience of working with numerous systems

Personal skills

• Self-motivated with the ability to use own initiative and work without constant supervision
• Communicate at all levels
• Ability to maintain and project a professional approach in all interaction with professional
• Flexible, approachable and diplomatic and a good team player
• Passionate about providing an efficient friendly and confidential service at all times.

Other

• Handling of highly sensitive & upsetting information will be required.

It is an exciting time to join Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. We run two busy hospital sites in Bedford and Luton. Our 7,500 staff provide high quality care for a growing population of around 700,000 across Bedfordshire and the surrounding areas.

You will be joining a friendly, high performing Trust committed to ensuring the health and wellbeing of staff. As one of the largest NHS Trusts in our region you will have access to a programme of high quality training and development to help you grow your career. Travel between hospital sites may be required. We have state-of-the-art facilities placing us at the heart of cutting edge health care. The Trust continues to be committed to delivering the best patient care using the best clinical knowledge and technology available.

All new staff will be subject to a probationary period covering their first six months in post.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.