Dear Manchester PCT

I would like to make some requests under the FOI Act regarding the
forthcoming rollout of the Summary Care Record within your PCT.

For the purposes of the Act, the date of your receipt of my request
will be 12th May.

• Please could you kindly send me the minutes (draft or otherwise)
of any Summary Care Record Project/Programme Board meeting held
between 01.01.09 and 30.04.09.

• Please could you kindly send me the minutes (draft or otherwise)
of any Summary Care Record Project (or Project Implementation) Team
meeting held between 01.01.09 and 30.04.09.

• Please could you kindly send me any Summary Care Record Highlight
Reports, Update Reports or Progress Reports created or updated
between 01.01.09 and 30.04.09.

• Please could you send me any Summary Care Record Risk Logs, Issue
Logs or Decision Logs created or updated between 01.01.09 and
30.04.09.

As per Section 4a of Part 1 of the FOI Act
(
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/ukp...
) I would like the information in question held at the time when my
request is received (draft or otherwise), except that account may
be taken of any amendment or deletion made between now and the
latest time by which the information is to be communicated to me,
being an amendment or deletion that would have been made regardless
of the receipt of my request.

I would be grateful if you would be kind enough to send me the
requested information promptly and in any event not later than the
twentieth working day following the date of receipt of my request -
that is by then end of the working day of 10th June.

If my request is denied in whole or in part, or specific items
within the responses are withheld from disclosure, then you must
justify all deletions by reference to specific exemptions of the
act, as per Section 17 of the Act
(
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/ukp...
). Where you rely on a qualified exemption to withhold disclosure,
you are obliged to consider the public interest in your decision
and the refusal notice must explain not only which exemption
applies and why, but also the public interest arguments addressed
in reaching the decision.

I wish to receive the information by email; I believe such a
request would be reasonable in these circumstances. As per Section
11 of Part 1 of the FOI Act (
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/ukp...
) I would be grateful if you would "so far as reasonably
practicable give effect to that preference"; if you determine that
it is not reasonably practicable to comply with this preference
then you are required by law to notify me of the reasons for your
determination.

The “return address” (to which the information that I have
requested be should be sent ) is the email address that this
particular request originates from.

I would be grateful if you would kindly acknowledge receipt of this
request as recommended by the ICO (“It would be good practice to
acknowledge receipt of requests and to refer to the 20 working day
time limit, so that applicants know their request is being dealt
with.”).

Thank you once again.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Neil Bhatia

I am no longer working for NHS Manchester (PCT). Contacts:-
Access to Health Records - [email address]
Freedom of Information - [email address]
Information Governance - [email address]
Policies & Procedures - [email address]
Records Management - [email address]
Road Traffic Accidents - [email address]

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Dear Neil

Thank you for your request dated 12th May requesting information
regarding the SCR/TPP projects.

Your request is being dealt with under the terms of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and will be answered within twenty working days.

If you have any queries about this request do not hesitate to contact
me. Please remember to quote the reference number above in any future
communications.

Regards, Nicola

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Dear Nicola,

Just a polite reminder that you must respond to my request by the
end of tomorrow, 10th June.

Kind regards,

Dr Neil Bhatia

Dear Nicola,

Just a polite reminder that you must respond to my request by the
end of today, 10th June.

Kind regards,

Dr Neil Bhatia

Dear Nicola,

You are now overdue in sending me the information as requested.

I would like to point out that you are now in breach of the Act.

Please could you kindly send me the information requested without
delay, else I will have no option but to make a complaint to the
Information Commissioner.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Neil Bhatia

Dear Nicola,

I have now made a complaint to the Information Commissioner as you
are blatantly in breach of the Act.

Every public authority is duty bound to comply with the Act. Why
does your PCT think it does not have to?

I have also written to your Chief Executive about this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Neil Bhatia

Dear Dr Bhatia

I'm responding to your email of 12th June making a complaint about our
failure to respond to your request of 12th May.

I acknowledge that we have not fulfilled our obligations under Section 10
and I apologise for the delay in replying to you. I am making urgent
enquiries to find the necessary information for a reply and to discover
the reasons for the delay.

I note that you have submitted a complaint to the Information Commissioner
about our failure to reply. I understand that the Commissioner will
normally expect that requestors have submitted a complaint to the public
body concerned and for reasonable time to have elapsed for our internal
processes to have considered such a complaint and responded. In the
circumstances I intend to await further correspondence from you once we
have sent our substantive reply and you have had an opportunity to
consider that reply.

In the meantime please do not hesitate to contact me for further
information.

Yours sincerely

Jim Whitaker
========================

Jim Whitaker

Information Governance Manager
Manchester Primary Care Trust
6th floor
Mauldeth House
Mauldeth Road West
Manchester, M21 7RL

[1][email address]
[2][email address]
DDI: 0161 861 2278

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Dear Mr Whitaker,

Thank you.

No, anyone has the right to complain if they have not received
information within 20 days.

Failure to respond within 20 working days is a clear and blatant
breach of s10 the Act.

You are correct that the ICO will not normally consider a complaint
until an internal review has been done, but that is in the case of
a reply that is unsatisfactory to the requester - for example,
denial that information is held, exemptions under the Act etc.

In this case, you haven't even sent me ANY information that I can
justify an internal review request for.

There's a difference.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Neil Bhatia

Response attached.

Regards

Jim Whitaker
========================

Jim Whitaker

Information Governance Manager
Manchester Primary Care Trust
6th floor
Mauldeth House
Mauldeth Road West
Manchester, M21 7RL

[1][email address]
[2][email address]
DDI: 0161 861 2278

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Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Neil Bhatia