Information Commissioner's Office

Western Cheshire NHS Primary Care Trust

25 June 2007, Health (NHS)

The complainant made two sets of requests to the Cheshire West NHS Primary Care Trust (the “PCT”) for a number of pieces of information relating to a doctor who had been investigated by the PCT in connection to allegations of criminal offences. By the time of the second set of requests the doctor had appeared in court. These events were related to two ‘protected disclosures’ which the complainant had made to the PCT. The PCT withheld all of the information it held which fell under these requests under section 40(2). The PCT also claimed section 30, section 31 and section 42 for some of the information in question. After considering the case the Commissioner upheld the PCT’s decision to withhold the information under section 40(2). Therefore he did not go on to consider the application of the other exemptions. The Commissioner did, however, find that the PCT had not complied with some of the procedural requirements of the Act, namely section 10 and section 17. The Western Cheshire NHS Primary Care Trust has since taken over responsibilities for this Trust, and therefore this Notice is addressed to it.

FOI 10: Upheld