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Dear Seymour Borealis,

Your information request - IR1-4614472280

Thank you for your email dated 2 October in which you amend the request.

How we will consider your request

We’re 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.

Yours sincerely

Information Access Team

General Medical Council

3 Hardman Street

Manchester

M3 3AW

From: Seymour Borealis <[FOI #1181907 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 2, 2024 8:37 AM
To: FOI <[email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Internal Messaging Services/Apps
- MAP related communications

Dear Sir/Madam, Re: Freedom of Information Request I am writing to make a
formal request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I would be grateful if you could provide the following details: [1] Use of
Messaging Platforms

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Freedom of Information Request

I am writing to make a formal request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would be grateful if you could provide the following details:

[1] Use of Messaging Platforms

1i) Could you confirm whether the General Medical Council (GMC) uses Microsoft Teams, Slack, or any similar messaging platform within its organisation?

1ii) If so, I would like to request the release of any messages, with relevant context where feasible, which contain references to the key terms listed below.

[2] Work-Issued Devices and Messaging Platforms

2i) Please confirm whether members of the GMC's executive and senior management team are issued work devices by the GMC. If so, could you provide details on how many of these devices have WhatsApp or any similar messaging platform installed and whether these platforms are used to communicate for GMC-related purposes.

2ii) In the event that these platforms are used for GMC-related communications, I would like to request the release of all messages, including those within group chats if applicable, that contain reference to any of the key terms listed below.

Key Terms:

Physician Associates (PAs)

Medical Associate Professionals (MAPs)

Anaesthesia Associates (AAs)

Surgical Care Practitioners (SCPs)

Please ensure that all disclosed information is presented in a form that adheres to the provisions of data protection legislation, and that personal data or any sensitive information not falling under the scope of this request is appropriately redacted.

If it is not possible to provide some of the information requested, please provide as much as you can, and offer an explanation for any omissions, citing the relevant exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act.

Thank you in advance for your assistance with this matter. I look forward to receiving your response within the statutory 20 working days.

Yours faithfully,

Seymour Borealis

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[1][FOI #1181907 email]

Is [2][GMC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to General Medical Council? If so, please contact us using this form:

[3]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[4]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the latest advice from the ICO:

[5]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....

[6]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections

Dear Seymour,

Your information requests - IR1-4614472129, IR1-4614472280,
IR1-4614472385, IR1-4625865305, IR1-4629605473, IR1-4633736611

Thank you for your emails in relation to your above requests. I have
considered all of these requests under the Freedom of Information Act 2000
(FOIA).

I am unable to provide you with the information you have requested. This
is because of the amount of data you’ve asked for and the work that would
be involved. Under FOIA there’s an exemption for requests where it would
cost the public authority more than £450 to process - equivalent to 18
hours. This is based on an hourly rate of £25 per hour, which is set by
the Freedom of Information (Fees and Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004.
This amount is called the ‘appropriate limit.’ To estimate the cost, we
can take into account determining, locating, retrieving and extracting the
information requested.

Amalgamation of requests

When a public authority estimates whether the appropriate limit is likely
to be exceeded, the [1]Freedom of Information and Data Protection
(Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 states that it can include
the costs of complying with two or more requests so long as the requests:

• Relate, to any extent, to the same or similar information, and

• Are received within any period of 60 consecutive working days.

Please note that I am including your information requests made on 1
October, 2 October, 10 October and 11 October 2024 when determining
whether the ‘appropriate limit’ has been exceeded. These requests relating
to the regulation of Physician Associates and/or Anaesthesia Associates.
These requests have been made within a period of 60 consecutive working
days.

The exemption

Under the FOIA, the specific exemption which we believe applies is at
section 12. This states that we are not required to comply with a request
if we estimate that the cost of doing so would exceed the appropriate
limit.

For instance, by just focusing on your request dated 1 October 2024 where
you have asked “Please provide any intelligence gathered over the last 12
months from information on X (formerly Twitter). This may include internal
emails, reports, or any other documents that mention or reference posts on
X, particularly regarding patient safety, consultation delays, or MAPs”, I
carried out a search for records containing the exact phrase ‘X’ and
‘Physician Associates’ or ‘Anaesthesia Associates’ which returned 36,000
results. I would have to manually check each record to ensure that it fits
within the scope of your request. It would take around one minute to
review each record and any corresponding documents. Based on an hourly
rate of £25 per hour (which is set by the Freedom of Information (Fees and
Appropriate Limit) Regulations 2004) this would cost us significantly in
excess of the ‘appropriate limit’ to process.

It is therefore overall clear that s.12 FOIA applies when considering your
requests collectively in accordance with the amalgamation rules set out
above.

Advice and assistance

Again, by focusing solely on your request dated 1 October 2024, you could
resubmit your questions with the exclusion of your final query and we will
consider this as a new request.

However, I should add that the s.12 exemption under the FOIA (or another
exemption) may still be applicable to any requests you raise in the
future.

Your right to appeal

If you would like to appeal this decision please set out your reasons in
writing to [2][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 [3]Information Commissioner, the regulator of the FOIA
and DPA.

Kind regards

Henna Janghir

Information Access Officer

General Medical Council

3 Hardman Street

Manchester

M3 3AW

Email: [4][email address]

Tel: 0161 923 6710

Website: [5]www.gmc-uk.org

From: FOI
Sent: Wednesday, October 2, 2024 3:56 PM
To: Seymour Borealis <[FOI #1181907 email]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Internal Messaging
Services/Apps - MAP related communications

Dear Seymour Borealis,

Your information request - IR1-4614472280

Thank you for your email dated 2 October in which you amend the request.

How we will consider your request

We’re 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.

Yours sincerely

Information Access Team

General Medical Council

3 Hardman Street

Manchester

M3 3AW

From: Seymour Borealis <[6][FOI #1181907 email]>
Sent: Wednesday, October 2, 2024 8:37 AM
To: FOI <[7][email address]>
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Internal Messaging Services/Apps
- MAP related communications

Dear Sir/Madam, Re: Freedom of Information Request I am writing to make a
formal request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I would be grateful if you could provide the following details: [1] Use of
Messaging Platforms

Dear Sir/Madam,

Re: Freedom of Information Request

I am writing to make a formal request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I would be grateful if you could provide the following details:

[1] Use of Messaging Platforms

1i) Could you confirm whether the General Medical Council (GMC) uses Microsoft Teams, Slack, or any similar messaging platform within its organisation?

1ii) If so, I would like to request the release of any messages, with relevant context where feasible, which contain references to the key terms listed below.

[2] Work-Issued Devices and Messaging Platforms

2i) Please confirm whether members of the GMC's executive and senior management team are issued work devices by the GMC. If so, could you provide details on how many of these devices have WhatsApp or any similar messaging platform installed and whether these platforms are used to communicate for GMC-related purposes.

2ii) In the event that these platforms are used for GMC-related communications, I would like to request the release of all messages, including those within group chats if applicable, that contain reference to any of the key terms listed below.

Key Terms:

Physician Associates (PAs)

Medical Associate Professionals (MAPs)

Anaesthesia Associates (AAs)

Surgical Care Practitioners (SCPs)

Please ensure that all disclosed information is presented in a form that adheres to the provisions of data protection legislation, and that personal data or any sensitive information not falling under the scope of this request is appropriately redacted.

If it is not possible to provide some of the information requested, please provide as much as you can, and offer an explanation for any omissions, citing the relevant exemptions under the Freedom of Information Act.

Thank you in advance for your assistance with this matter. I look forward to receiving your response within the statutory 20 working days.

Yours faithfully,

Seymour Borealis

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Please use this email address for all replies to this request:

[8][FOI #1181907 email]

Is [9][GMC request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information requests to General Medical Council? If so, please contact us using this form:

[10]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:

[11]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....

For more detailed guidance on safely disclosing information, read the latest advice from the ICO:

[12]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....

[13]https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www....

Please note that in some cases publication of requests and responses will be delayed.

If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.

show quoted sections