University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust

Through a series of requests, the complainant has requested information from University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (‘the Trust’) that is broadly associated with the circumstances under which his mother died.  The Trust provided information relevant to some of the requests.  It provided links to some relevant published information and said it did not hold other information.  The Trust relied on section 12(1) with regard to two requests (cost exceeds appropriate limit) and indicated that information within the scope of another request was intended for future publication.  With regard to the majority of the requests, the Trust relied on section 40(5) and 41(2) to neither confirm nor deny it holds relevant information as to do so would either release the personal data of a third party or constitute an actionable breach of confidence. The Commissioner’s decision is as follows: On the balance of probabilities, the Trust does not hold the information requested in request 2 and complied with section 1(1)(a) with regards to this request. The Trust breached sections 1(1) and 10(1) with regard to request 3 as it holds information relevant to this request that it did not communicate to the complainant within the appropriate timescale. The Trust breached section 17(5) with regard to requests 4d) and 11. It incorrectly relied on section 12(1) to refuse to comply with these two requests but the Commissioner finds that, on the balance of probabilities, the Trust does not hold the information requested through these two requests. The information requested in requests 1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 does not engage the exemption under section 40(5B)(a)(i) of the FOIA but the Trust is not obliged to confirm or deny it holds this information under section 41(2). The Trust is not obliged to confirm or deny it holds the information requested in requests 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 under section 40(5B)(a)(i). The Commissioner requires the Trust to take the following step to ensure compliance with the legislation: If it has not already done so, release the ‘Ward Handover of Care and Internal Transfer of Adults (Excluding Maternity) Standard Operating Procedure’ document to the complainant.