The complainant has requested information on the guidance provided to doctors in respect of treating patients who may have suffered sexual abuse. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) originally denied holding the information. At the internal review stage the DH confirmed the information was held but refused the request under section 21 – information reasonably accessible to the applicant, and provided the complainant with links to where the information could be accessed on the internet. Unfortunately the links did not work and ultimately the DHSC provided the complainant with electronic copies of the documents it held. Inevitably this was outside the 20 working days for responding to requests. The Commissioner’s decision is that DHSC breached section 10 by failing to provide the requested information within 20 working days. By failing to issue a refusal notice in respect of the exemption it was relying on at the time of the internal review within 20 working days of receipt of the request the DHSC also breached section 17(1). However the Commissioner finds that the DHSC did not breach it obligations to provide advice and assistance under section 16 as alleged by the complainant. As the DHSC has now provided the complainant with the requested information the Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any further action in this matter.
FOI 17: Complaint partly upheld FOI 10: Complaint upheld
Citations:
[2018] UKICO fs50689986
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 15 May 2022; Ref: scu.617350
