ICO Decision On Department Of Health

Acting Information Commissioner Answer Styannes issued Decision 04/2023 in regards to the Department of Health.

A spokesperson said, “The Applicant had submitted a Public Access to Information [PATI] request to the Department for specific health and safety reports and details on any complaint received about the Histology Laboratory at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital. The Department initially denied the request in full on the basis that the PATI Act did not apply to the responsive records under section 4[1][a], because the records related to the exercise of a court’s judicial function. During the Information Commissioner’s review, however, the Department abandoned its reliance on the provision to deny public access to details of any health and safety complaints.

“Acting Information Commissioner Styannes found that the Department was justified in denying public access to two specific health and safety reports under section 4[1][a] of the PATI Act because she was satisfied that, more probable than not, they formed part of the evidence for a pending legal proceeding before the Supreme Court. In the absence of sufficient evidence, however, she found that the Department was not justified in relying on section 4[1][a] for denying access to the follow up reports. As a result, and given that the Department abandoned its reliance on section 4[1][a] with regards to the health and safety complaints records, the Acting Information Commissioner has ordered the Department to re-process parts of the PATI request and issue a new initial decision on or before Thursday, 11 May 2023.

“Decision 04/2023 and the accompanying Orders have been filed with the Supreme Court are legally binding. All decisions issued by the Acting Information Commissioner under section 47[4] of the PATI Act are available at ico.bm.”

The full version of Decision 04/2023 follows below [PDF here]:

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