Request
Dear Sir
Under the Freedom of Information Act I would be grateful if you could forward me copies of all MB alerts sent both to the Department of Health during March, April and May up to and including the date on which you respond to this inquiry.
Please could you also supply me with copies of any media handling advice/policy discussed with East Midlands Ambulance Service in relation to the tenure of its Chief Executive Paul Phillips along with minutes or notes (including those that are handwritten) taken at meetings/teleconferences or telephone calls in relation to this during March. April and May up to and including the date on which you respond to this inquiry.
I would prefer to received the response electronically – if this is not possible let me know and I will forward a mailing address.
Our Response
I refer to your email requesting the following information:
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Please could you also supply me with copies of any media handling advice/policy discussed with East Midlands Ambulance Service in relation to the tenure of its Chief Executive Paul Phillips along with minutes or notes (including those that are handwritten) taken at meetings/teleconferences or telephone calls in relation to this during March. April and May up to and including the date on which you respond to this inquiry.
I can confirm in accordance with S.1 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) that we do hold some of the information that you have requested.
Exemptions
Section 31
There are two types of exemption, absolute and qualified. In order to rely on a qualified exemption the SHA must establish not only that the conditions set down in the exemption are fulfilled, but also that on balance there is a greater public interest in the information being withheld than in it being released ("the public interest test").
Information relating to your first bullet point is being withheld because we consider that the exemption in the section 31 of the Act will apply. The exemption set out in section 31 reads as follows:
"Information … is exempt information if its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to, prejudice … the exercise by any public authority of its functions for … (j) the purpose of protecting persons other than persons at work against risk to health … arising out of or in connection with the actions of persons at work."
This is a qualified exemption so we have applied the public interest test. Our reasons for concluding that the exemption applies are set out below.
Prejudice
We believe that disclosure of information of the kind contained in the MB Health Alerts would be likely to prejudice the process of any subsequent investigations as they would discourage cooperation and openness and thus diminish a significant means of safeguarding the health and welfare of patients cared for in NHS facilities. We feel that anything which might deter reporting and co-operation in such investigations works to the detriment of the patient concerned in particular and the NHS and the wider health community in general.
Public interest
Public interest in disclosure
We have taken into account the public interest in:
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openness and transparency
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accountability in the administration of public services
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ensuring appropriate standards of clinical practice
Public interest in withholding
We have weighed these factors against the following which tend towards withholding the information:
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the potential limiting impact on the conduct and value of future investigations
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the potential for identification of patients by virtue of the description of procedures and locations
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the existence of other avenues for independent investigation, which providing the opportunity for patients to query and staff to answer concerns
Conclusion
We have determined that the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosing the information.
Section 40 (2)
We also consider that Section 40 is engaged in this instance. The exemption set out in section 40 reads as follows:
1. Any information to which a request for information relates is exempt information if it constitutes personal data of which the applicant is the data subject.
2. Any information to which a request for information relates is also exempt information if
(a) It constitutes personal data which do not fall within subsection (1)….
Most of the information contained with the MB Health Alerts requested can becategorised as personal data or sensitive personal data which should not be disclosed. We are aware that in an age of widely available electronic search facilities it is possible to put together a series of apparently unconnected facts and discover personal information about an individual where there is no consent to disclosure and where to do so directly would involve unfair or unlawful processing in terms of the Data Protection Act. Section 40 is an absolute exemption which does not require us to carry out the public interest test.
Turning to the information requested within your second bullet point, I initiated an internal search for the relevant information which produced a number of documents which I have attached in pdf format.
I hope that this information is of use. If you are dissatisfied with the way in which we have dealt with your request you can ask us to review our decision by writing to:-
Mr Moosa Patel
Director of Corporate Affairs
NHS East Midlands
Octavia House
Interchange Business Park
Bostock's Lane
Sandiacre
Nottingham
NG10 5QG
If at the conclusion of any review you remain dissatisfied you may complain to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at:-
The Office of the Information Commissioner
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
