General Medical Council

Complainants against doctors are determined by the Medical Practitioners Tribunal (MPT). The decisions of the MPT can be appealed by the General Medical Council (GMC). The complainant has requested the ethnicity of the doctors about whom the GMC made such appeals. The GMC provided a copy of statistics which had been released following an earlier information request from a different applicant, but refused to provide the updated statistics on the basis that the information was exempt under section 40(2). During the course of the Commissioner’s investigation the GMC also applied section 14(1) – vexatious, to the request. It also became apparent during the Commissioner’s investigation that the GMC held more detailed statistics on the ethnicity of the doctors involved. The Commissioner’s decision is that the GMC were not entitled to rely on section 14 to refuse the request. It was however entitled to rely on section 40(2) to withhold both the updated statistics and the more detailed statistics that it holds. The Commissioner does not require the public authority to take any further action this matter.