Thank you for getting in touch. Please note this is an automated email.
Your receipt of this means that we have safely received your email.

We are currently receiving a high volume of requests and there will be a
delay in getting back to you with a further acknowledgement. We will do so
as soon as we can.

Since 6 December 2023, the GMC has been subject to the Welsh Language
Standards. You are welcome to contact us in Welsh and we will respond in
Welsh, without this causing additional delay.

In the meantime, if you want any further information about the GMC, please
visit our website: [1]Home - GMC (gmc-uk.org)

General Medical Council

We work with doctors, patients, and other stakeholders to support good,
safe patient care across the UK. We set the standards doctors and those
who train them need to meet, and help them achieve them. If there are
concerns these standards may not be met or that public confidence in
doctors may be at risk, we can investigate, and take action if needed.

This email may contain privileged or confidential information which should
only be used for the purpose for which it has been sent.

If you are not the addressee or have received this email in error, please
do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or any
attachments. Please email the sender and then immediately delete it.

The General Medical Council is a charity registered in England and Wales
(1089278) and in Scotland (SC037750)

You are welcome to contact us in Welsh. We will respond in Welsh, without
this causing additional delay.

_________________________________________________________________

Cyngor Meddygol Cyffredinol

Rydym yn gweithio gyda meddygon, cleifion a rhanddeiliaid eraill i
gynorthwyo gofal da a diogel i gleifion ar draws y DU. Rydym yn gosod y
safonau y bydd angen i feddygon a’r rhai sy’n eu hyfforddi eu bodloni, ac
yn eu helpu i’w cyflawni. Os bydd pryderon efallai na fydd y safonau hyn
yn cael eu cyflawni neu y gallai hyder y cyhoedd mewn meddygon fod mewn
perygl, gallwn ymchwilio, a gweithredu os oes angen.

Efallai bod y neges e-bost hon yn cynnwys gwybodaeth freiniol neu
gyfrinachol, y dylid ei defnyddio at y diben y’i hanfonwyd yn unig.

Os nad chi yw’r derbynnydd neu os ydych chi wedi cael yr e-bost hwn mewn
camgymeriad, peidiwch â’i ddarllen, argraffu, ail-anfon, storio na
gweithredu mewn ffordd sy’n dibynnu arni neu unrhyw atodiadau os gwelwch
yn dda. Dylech anfon e-bost at yr anfonwr ac yna, ei ddileu ar unwaith.

Mae’r Cyngor Meddygol Cyffredinol yn elusen gofrestredig yng Nghymru a
Lloegr (1089278) ac yn Yr Alban (SC037750)

Mae croeso i chi gysylltu â ni yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn ymateb yn Gymraeg,
heb i hyn achosi oedi ychwanegol.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gmc-uk.org/

Dear Kirrien Wilson,

Your information request – IR1-4537613092

Thank you for your Email below dated 6^th August 2024.

How we will consider your request

We are going to consider your request under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 (FOIA). The FOIA gives us 20 working days to respond, but we’ll come
back to you as soon as we can.

Your request will be allocated to a member of the team. If you have any
queries please email [1][GMC request email].

Kind regards,

Information Access Team

General Medical Council

3 Hardman Street

Manchester

M3 3AW

show quoted sections

Dear Kirrien Wilson

Your information access request IR1-4537613092

Thank you for your email of 6 August asking for any information held into
investigations relating to Dr Wahid Asif Shaida (GMC no. 3550845). I’ve
considered your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

I can confirm that we are fully aware of the concerns that have been
raised regarding Dr Wahid Asif Shaida, and are looking into this. I can’t
give you further information about any investigations because it would
breach data protection legislation to give this to you.

We believe it’s reasonable for doctors and complainants to expect that
complaints will be treated as confidential. If a case progresses to a
hearing, or an investigation concludes with a warning or undertakings,
certain information may be made publicly available by the GMC, in line
with our publication and disclosure policy for fitness to practise
information. Otherwise the information is treated as the confidential
personal data of the doctor and other parties involved. I’ve given details
of the exemption under the FOIA which applies below.

The exemption

Section 40(2), by virtue of section 40(3A)(a)

This exemption applies where the information is the personal data of a
third party and where releasing the information would breach any of the
principles relating to the processing of personal data listed at Article 5
of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In this instance
disclosure would breach the first principle, which requires the processing
of information to be lawful, fair and transparent. I do not believe that
any of the legal bases for processing listed at Article 6 of the GDPR are
met and therefore giving you the information would be unlawful.

Your right to appeal

I'm sorry I couldn’t provide all the information you requested. If you
would like to appeal this decision please set out your reasons in writing
to [1][GMC request email]. Please note that we will only usually consider
appeals received within 40 working days of our response. You can also
appeal to the [2]Information Commissioner, the regulator of the FOIA and
DPA.

Yours sincerely

Edd Mustill

Information Access Officer

Information Access Team

General Medical Council

[3]www.gmc-uk.org

E: [4][email address]

T: 0161 250 6949

show quoted sections

Thank you for getting in touch. Please note this is an automated email.
Your receipt of this means that we have safely received your email.

We are currently receiving a high volume of requests and there will be a
delay in getting back to you with a further acknowledgement. We will do so
as soon as we can.

Since 6 December 2023, the GMC has been subject to the Welsh Language
Standards. You are welcome to contact us in Welsh and we will respond in
Welsh, without this causing additional delay.

In the meantime, if you want any further information about the GMC, please
visit our website: [1]Home - GMC (gmc-uk.org)

General Medical Council

We work with doctors, patients, and other stakeholders to support good,
safe patient care across the UK. We set the standards doctors and those
who train them need to meet, and help them achieve them. If there are
concerns these standards may not be met or that public confidence in
doctors may be at risk, we can investigate, and take action if needed.

This email may contain privileged or confidential information which should
only be used for the purpose for which it has been sent.

If you are not the addressee or have received this email in error, please
do not read, print, re-transmit, store or act in reliance on it or any
attachments. Please email the sender and then immediately delete it.

The General Medical Council is a charity registered in England and Wales
(1089278) and in Scotland (SC037750)

You are welcome to contact us in Welsh. We will respond in Welsh, without
this causing additional delay.

_________________________________________________________________

Cyngor Meddygol Cyffredinol

Rydym yn gweithio gyda meddygon, cleifion a rhanddeiliaid eraill i
gynorthwyo gofal da a diogel i gleifion ar draws y DU. Rydym yn gosod y
safonau y bydd angen i feddygon a’r rhai sy’n eu hyfforddi eu bodloni, ac
yn eu helpu i’w cyflawni. Os bydd pryderon efallai na fydd y safonau hyn
yn cael eu cyflawni neu y gallai hyder y cyhoedd mewn meddygon fod mewn
perygl, gallwn ymchwilio, a gweithredu os oes angen.

Efallai bod y neges e-bost hon yn cynnwys gwybodaeth freiniol neu
gyfrinachol, y dylid ei defnyddio at y diben y’i hanfonwyd yn unig.

Os nad chi yw’r derbynnydd neu os ydych chi wedi cael yr e-bost hwn mewn
camgymeriad, peidiwch â’i ddarllen, argraffu, ail-anfon, storio na
gweithredu mewn ffordd sy’n dibynnu arni neu unrhyw atodiadau os gwelwch
yn dda. Dylech anfon e-bost at yr anfonwr ac yna, ei ddileu ar unwaith.

Mae’r Cyngor Meddygol Cyffredinol yn elusen gofrestredig yng Nghymru a
Lloegr (1089278) ac yn Yr Alban (SC037750)

Mae croeso i chi gysylltu â ni yn Gymraeg. Byddwn yn ymateb yn Gymraeg,
heb i hyn achosi oedi ychwanegol.

References

Visible links
1. https://www.gmc-uk.org/

Dear Kirrien Wilson,

IR: IR1-4562049814

Thank you for your email below dated 23^rd August 2024.

We will be considering your email as a Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA) appeal. We have a target response time of 20 working days. We will
endeavour to respond to you within this timeframe.

Yours Sincerely,

Information Access Team

General Medical Council

3 Hardman Street

Manchester

M3 3AW

show quoted sections

Dear Kirrien Wilson

I write further to previous correspondance. I have considered your email
as an Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) appeal.

I should confirm that I have considered this matter again from first
principles and agree with Mr Mustill's use of S40(2)

I have considered the bases of your appeal and with respect, think the
specific grounds are misconstrued, even if I understand how you’ve drawn
the conclusions that you have.

You correctly identify some of the conditions for processing under Article
6 of the GDPR. However, as can be identified [1]here, the ICO notes that:

If you are dealing with an FOI or EIR request, the most relevant lawful
bases you can rely on are:

Article 6(1)(a) – consent of the data subject; and

Article 6(1)(f) – legitimate interests.

This approach is borne out by considering a variety of ICO and Tribunal
decisions. For example, [2]this ICO decision asked in part for tribunal
outcomes (not wider documentation- which is a greater level of intrusion
into the doctors privacy). A further example of a relevant ICO decision is
[3]here. The Upper Tribunals treatment of the matter is [4]here, all of
which are interested in the use possible use of Article 6(f).

I now turn to the conditions for processing that you identified.

Vital Interests

Considering Article 1 d- [5]vital interests, the ICO state that ‘it’s
clear from Recital 46 that vital interests are intended to cover only
interests that are essential for someone’s life. So this lawful basis is
very limited in its scope, and generally only applies to matters of life
and death...’  

It’s highly notable that the example they give is focused on a specific
identifiable person- a member of staff who ‘has experienced a severe,
life-threatening allergic reaction at work and has fallen unconscious.’
Your reference to the population (or sub parts of it) is too vague and
remote to allow reliance on this lawful basis. I also do not believe that
providing the information is necessary either- I don’t see a substantive
connection between providing the information within the scope your request
and lives being saved.

Task in the public interest

Secondly you refer to Article 6 1 e-  ‘necessary for the performance of a
task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official
authority vested in the controller.’

What this means is that disclosing the information you’ve requested must
be necessary for us to carry out the functions we are legally obliged to
carry out in law. This is not the same thing as it merely being ‘in the
public interest.’ I don’t think it’s necessary for us to disclose the
information for us to carry out our regulatory function. However, the idea
of what’s in the public interest is a key part of Article 6 1 e-
legitimate interests, which I now turn to as it’s the most relevant
processing condition in respect of your request.

Legitimate interests

In line with the ICO’s guidance and in the absence of Dr Shaida’s consent,
we considered if the legitimate interests basis might apply. This would
apply if you are pursuing a legitimate interest, processing is necessary
for the pursuance of that purpose and the rights and freedoms of the
individual concerned do not outweigh the interest pursued. The ICO’s
guidance is [6]here. We accept that you are pursuing a legitimate interest
( which I am equating here to the public interest you referred to namely,
and at least, some form of accountability and transparency and public
safety). However, you asked for ‘any information held’ (which I take to
mean ‘all’ information held) and I do not accept that providing ‘all
information’ is necessary to meet the legitimate interests, especially in
the context that the GMC has confirmed it is looking into concerns raised.
Some smaller disclosure would meet the objective sufficiently well e.g.
the fact that the GMC has already stated we are looking into concerns
raised about him.  Notwithstanding this, I don’t believe that the interest
pursued outweigh the rights and freedoms of the doctor in respect of
provision of any  additional information. I think this specifically
because of what our [7]publication and disclosure policy for fitness to
practice information states about what we make public and for how long we
do so. I also think a factor against disclosure is that we are still
looking into the concerns raised. You will note that this line of
reasoning  is the same as in the first ICO decision I drew your attention
to above.  

Your further right of appeal

I understand that you are likely to disagree with this response but I hope
that it provides more information about how we reached our conclusions.
You can appeal to the Information Commissioner, the regulator of the FOIA
and DPA. Their online portal for freedom of information requests is
[8]here.

---

Kind Regards

Matt

Matthew McCoig-Lees

Senior Information Access Officer

Information Access Team

General Medical Council

3 Hardman Street

Manchester

M3 3AW

Email: [email address]

Website: www.gmc-uk.org

Tel: 0161 923 6579

I sometimes work flexibly and therefore this email may reach you outside
of core working hours. I don’t expect you to respond outside of your own
working hours.

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