East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust

The complainant requested data on hospital-acquired instances of Covid-19. East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust relied on section 21 of the FOIA to withhold information as it was reasonably accessible to the complainant. The Commissioner’s decision is that the Trust was correct to deal with the request under the FOIA and, having done so, was entitled to rely on section 21 of the FOIA to withhold some of the requested information. On the balance of probabilities, the Commissioner is also satisfied that the Trust holds no further information within the scope of the request. However, the Trust failed to inform the complainant, within 20 working days, that it did not hold some of the requested information and therefore breached section 10 of the FOIA. The Commissioner does not require any further steps. First-tier Tribunal (General Regulatory Chamber) Information Rights appeal EA/2021/0332 under appeal.