Bristol Histopathology Services

21st September 2011

 

Our Ref: Information Request CQC IAT 2011 0603

 

This matter is being dealt with by: Sylvia Blakeley, Telephone No: 0191
233 3617

 

Dear Mrs Havercroft,

 

I am writing to acknowledge receipt of your request for information dated
21st September 2011, which the Commission received on that day. Your
request for information is as follows: -

 

"On 4th May 2011, two members of the public, one of them me, visited CQC
in Bristol to discuss our concerns about the safety of Histopathology
Services in Bristol and the reasons why were were not satisfied with the
University Hospitals Bristol Inquiry.

    

Representing CQC at the meeting were Sue Burn, Cath Campbell and another
lady who was taking notes.

 

We were promised that the notes of the meeting would be issued a couple of
weeks after the meeting. We have never received them.

 

Please provide them under FOIA.

    

During the meeting, Sue Burn made her own notes.

 

Please provide copies of those as well."

 

Your request is now being processed in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000. Your response should be sent to you within the
statutory timescale of 20 working days as outlined by the Act, subject to
the information not meeting exemption criteria or containing reference to
a third party. Should this occur, you will be notified accordingly when we
write to you next.

 

You can therefore expect a response by close of business 19th October 2011
respectively. In certain circumstances the Care Quality Commission may be
unable to provide the information within statutory timescale.  We will
then inform you of the revised timescale prior to the deadline.

 

We may require further information from you in order to process your
request.  If this is the case you will be informed and the statutory
timescale will be suspended until we receive further information from you.
If you decide not to respond then your request will be closed.

 

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the team, on the
telephone number above, quoting our reference number.

 

Kind regards,

 

Paul Douglas (on behalf of Sylvia Blakeley)
Information Access Officer
Legal Services & Information Rights
Care Quality Commission 
Citygate
Gallowgate
Newcastle upon Tyne 
NE1 4PA
 
Tel: 0191 233 3590
Fax: 01484 772 992
E-mail: [1][CQC request email]
 

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Our Ref: Information Request CQC IAT 2011 0603

 

Dear Mrs Havercroft

 

I am writing in response to your email dated 21 September 2011 in which
you made a request for information in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA), which the Commission received on the same
day.

 

You requested: -

 

On 4th May 2011, two members of the public, one of them me, visited CQC in
Bristol to discuss our concerns about the safety of Histopathology
Services in Bristol and the reasons why were were not satisfied with the
University Hospitals Bristol Inquiry.

    

Representing CQC at the meeting were Sue Burn, Cath Campbell and another
lady who was taking notes.

 

We were promised that the notes of the meeting would be issued a couple of
weeks after the meeting. We have never received them.

 

Please provide them under FOIA.

    

During the meeting, Sue Burn made her own notes.

 

Please provide copies of those as well.

 

The Information Access Team has now processed your request and I am
pleased to provide a copy of the minutes from the meeting.  I can also
advise you that we no longer hold the handwritten notes made by Sue Burn. 
Handwritten notes are destroyed once the minutes have been typed up.

 

You will note that the minutes have been redacted to remove names of some
of the individuals present at the meeting.  The Commission considers this
information to be subject to the exemption from disclosure under section
40(2) of the Act, because it is personal data relating to another
individual.  The details of this exemption are explained below:

 

The Commission considers that it would be a breach of the Principles of
the Data Protection Act 1998 to disclose the requested information because
the person to whom the information relates would have a reasonable
expectation that it would not be disclosed to a member of the public,
disclosure could lead to be a breach of their privacy or rights, could
cause harm, distress or embarrassment.

 

The Commission must also consider to what degree that the names of the
individuals are within the public domain.

 

In relation to Compliance Inspectors, whilst publicly facing employees,
they do not have a level of seniority which would bring with it an
expectation that their names should be disclosed. Inspectors names are
disclosed when they undertake visits to providers, i.e. checking of
identity, however the Commission feels this is in the course of their
duties as an employee and should not be considered  as disclosure of their
names into the public domain.

 

This exemption applies in any case where disclosure of the requested
information into the public domain would be a breach of any of the
Principles of the Data Protection Act 1998. In particular, the first
Principle requires that disclosure of the information must be fair and
lawful.

 

No public interest test is required for this exemption.

 

I am aware, however, that the Compliance inspector has also provided you
with an unredacted copy of the notes in confidence and outside of the
Freedom of Information Act, so you should already have a full copy for
your records.

 

I hope that you find this information helpful.  If you are not satisfied
with the information that you have been provided then you may request an
internal review of the Commission’s handling of your information request.
Please clearly indicate that you wish for an internal review and you must
state the reason for requesting the review. To request a review please
contact: -

 

Legal Services & Information Rights

Care Quality Commission

Citygate

Gallowgate

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE1 4PA

 

[1][CQC request email]

 

 

Please be aware that this review process will focus upon our handling of
your information request and should not be used to raise further concerns
about the provision of care or the internal processes of other CQC
functions.  If you are unhappy with other aspects of the Commission's
actions, or of the actions of registered providers, please see our website
for information on how to raise a concern or complaint.
[2]http://www.cqc.org.uk/contactus/howtorai...

 

Further rights of appeal exist to the Information Commissioner’s Office
([3]www.ico.gov.uk) once the internal appeals process has been exhausted. 

 

The contact details are: -

 

Information Commissioner's Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow 

Cheshire 

SK9 5AF

 

Telephone Helpline:  0303 123 1113

 

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

Kind regards

 
Sylvia Blakeley
Information Access Officer
Information Access Team
Governance and Legal Services
Care Quality Commission
Citygate
Gallowgate
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 4PA
 
Fax: 01484 772 992
Tel: 0191 2333617
 
Email: [CQC request email]
 

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