ICO Decision On Ministry Of Health HQ
Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued Decision 37/2023 in regards to the Ministry of Health Headquarters.
A spokesperson said, “On 27 October 2023, Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued Decision 37/2023, Ministry of Health Headquarters. This Decision brought closure to the PATI request that gave rise to the decision by the Court of Appeal, Information Commissioner v Attorney General [2023] CA [Bda] 6 Civ.
“The PATI request had sought records related to the 2017 agreement made between the Government and the Brown-Darrell Clinic and the Bermuda Health Care Service for payments to mitigate the impact of the Government’s fee reductions for diagnostic imaging. The Ministry of Health had claimed that the PATI Act did not apply to 77 of the requested records by virtue of section 4[1][b][vi] of the PATI Act because the Attorney General’s Chambers had obtained or received the records while carrying out its functions as the legal advisor to the Government.
“The Attorney General’s Chambers challenged the legal authority of the Information Commissioner to require copies of the records when necessary for the purposes of her review. Following the Court of Appeal’s landmark ruling in favour of the Information Commissioner in March 2023, the Information Commissioner was able to conduct her review of the Ministry of Health Headquarters’ refusal of the records. The Ministry of Health Headquarters provided copies of the records needed by the Information Commissioner, along with descriptions of records and other information required for the review.
“In Decision 37/2023, the Information Commissioner has affirmed, in part, the decision by the Ministry of Health Headquarters denying access to records because the PATI Act did not apply to the records. Commissioner Gutierrez has also reversed, in part, the Ministry of Health Headquarters’ refusal to process a set of the records or parts of records to which the PATI Act applies. She ordered that the Ministry of Health Headquarters process the records and parts of records and issue an initial decision to the Applicant on or before Friday, 8 December 2023.”
The full version of Decision 37/2023 follows below [PDF here]:
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