Dr Persaud FTP panellists

Our ref: F09/2364/JM

Dear Mr Thackeray

Information Request

Thank you for your e-mail dated 29 June 2009 in which you request
information in accordance with the provisions of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

We will consider your request and you will normally receive the
information you seek within the 20 working day limit set by the FOIA.

The FOIA lists a number of exemptions that may prevent the release of
part, or all, of the information that you have requested. We will make an
assessment of the requested information and if it is subject to an
exemption you will be informed of this, together with details of your
right of appeal.

Your request has been allocated to Janet Maclean. If you have any queries
concerning your request you can contact Ms Maclean on

0161 923 6324 or email [email address].

Yours sincerely

Janet Maclean

Information Access Team Administrator

0161 923 6324

[email address]

show quoted sections

Our ref: F09/2364/JM

Dear Mr Thackeray

Thank you for your email of 29 July 2009 in which you refer to the Fitness
to Practise Panel hearing held for Dr Persaud. Your request has been
considered in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
I apologise for the delay in responding to you.

I confirm that panellists were allocated to Dr Persaud's hearing in
accordance with our standard procedure in respect of selecting panellists
for individual hearings. I believe that my colleague, Elizabeth Hiley,
recently detailed this procedure to you under our reference
IAT/F099/2321/EH and I refer you back to her response.

I would reiterate that once we have allocated panellists to specific
hearings, we send an email to the panellists to advise them of the cases
they will be sitting on. The only information we give them at this stage
is the doctor's name. Panellists are expected to alert us if they think
they may know or have any knowledge of the doctor. Approximately 10 days
prior to the hearing, panellists are sent the agenda, which contains the
detailed charges against the doctor. Again, panellists are expected to
alert us if they think they may know or have any knowledge of the doctor.

I can confirm that our standard procedure was followed when empanelling
for Dr Persaud's hearing. We did not specifically ask the panellists if
they had any links to the complainant or to any Scientology organisations,
and we were not alerted to any potential conflict of interest by any
panellist.

With regards to your request for all internal communication in respect of
this case I confirm that we do hold internal correspondence in relation to
this case. This relates to internal decisions in relation to the
investigation process and legal advice received in preparation for the FTP
hearing. We consider this correspondence to be exempt from disclosure
under FOIA and accordingly this email acts as a refusal notice to supply
the information requested. The exemptions we believe apply are:

Section 40(2) by virtue of section 40(3)(a)(i) - Personal Information of a
third party - This concerns information requested which relates to a third
party, and the disclosure of which would be in breach of the Principles of
the DPA. In this instance we believe that the disclosure of this type of
information would breach the First Principle, which requires that the
processing of personal data is fair and lawful.

This exemption is absolute, which means that it is not subject to a public
interest test (in order to assess if the public interest is greater served
by disclosing the information than maintaining the exemption).

Section 41 - Information provided in confidence - This relates to
information supplied to the GMC by any person, the disclosure of which
would constitute a breach of confidence actionable by that or any other
person.

Section 42 - Legal Professional Privilege. This exemption applies to
information, which attracts Legal Professional Privilege. This exemption
is subject to a public interest test. In this instance we believe that the
public interest lies in maintaining the exemption rather than disclosing
the information.

You have the right of appeal against this decision. If you wish to appeal
please set out in writing your grounds, and send to Julian Graves,
Information Access Manager, at [email address]. You also have the right
of appeal to the Information commissioner. If necessary, Mr Graves will
provide you with the relevant contact details.

Yours sincerely

Janet Maclean

Information Access Team Administrator

0161 923 6324

[email address]

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