Information Commissioner's Office

Hounslow Primary Care Trust

17 March 2008, Health (NHS)

The complainant submitted a request to Hounslow Primary Care Trust (‘the Trust’) for communications between it and a number of named organisations and individuals in relation to the care provided to his late father-in-law and issues concerning a particular nursing home. It took the Trust nearly seven months to respond to this request. The complaint alleged that this response did not include all of the information the Trust held covered the by scope of this request. During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation the Trust located a significant number of further documents and disclosed these to the complainant. However, the Trust relied on sections 31, 41 and 42 to withhold a small number of these documents and section 40 to redact the names of various individuals. The Commissioner has concluded that Trust was incorrect to withhold documents on the basis of section 31, but correct to withhold documents on the basis of section 41 and 42. The Commissioner has also concluded that the Trust was incorrect to withhold the majority of the individuals’ names on the basis of section 40. The Commissioner has concluded that on the balance of probabilities, the Trust does not hold any further documents falling within the scope of the request. However, the Commissioner has also concluded that in handling this request the Trust committed numerous procedural breaches of the Act.

FOI 10: Upheld