Information Commissioner's Office

Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

18 June 2015, Health (NHS)

The complainant made a freedom of information request to Kingston Hospital NHS foundation Trust for all documents submitted by the winning bidder in a tender for outpatient pharmacy, retail and Homecare services at the Trust. The Trust refused the request under the exemption in section 40(2) (personal information), section 41 (information provided in confidence) and 43(2) (commercial interests) of FOIA. The Commissioner’s decision is that both the section 41 and section 43(2) exemptions are engaged and in the case of section 43(2), the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The Commissioner requires no steps to be taken.

FOI 41: Not upheld FOI 43: Not upheld