Information Commissioner's Office

Whittington Hospital NHS Trust

23 January 2017, Health (NHS)

The complainant has requested correspondence relating to a particular clinic run by the Trust, sent, or received by the office of two named doctors. The Trust provided some of the requested information but refused to provide the remainder under the exemptions provided by section 36(2) – prejudice to the conduct of public affairs, section 40(2) – personal data and section 41 – information provided in confidence. The Commissioner’s decision is that section 36 can only be relied on in respect of some of the information to which it has been applied, similarly sections 41 and 40(2) can only be relied on in respect of some of the information to which they have been applied. The Commissioner requires the public authority to disclose the information which is not protected by any of the exemptions cited as identified in the confidential annex which has been provided to the Trust.

FOI 36: Partly upheld FOI 40: Partly upheld FOI 41: Partly upheld