The complainant has requested the qualification and area of psychiatry expertise of an individual. The individual in question was employed by the General Medical Council (the GMC) to investigate a doctor responsible for the care of a close relative of the complainant, who died in hospital. The GMC has refused to confirm or deny that it holds this information under section 40(5B)(a)(i) of the FOIA, as it believes that to do so would disclose personal data, and that this disclosure would contravene data protection legislation. The Commissioner’s decision is that the GMC can rely on section 40(5B)(a)(i) of the FOIA to refuse to confirm or deny that it holds the requested information, as she is satisfied that doing so would contravene data protection legislation. The Commissioner does not require any further steps to be taken as a result of this decision notice.
FOI 40: Complaint not upheld
Citations:
[2020] UKICO IC-46060
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Information
Updated: 15 August 2022; Ref: scu.657834