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23rd March 2010

Case Reference Number IRQ0302905

Dear Dr Bhatia

Thank you for your email of 22 March 2010 in which you have made a request
for information to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Your request is being dealt with in accordance with the Freedom of
Information Act 2000.  We will respond by 21 April 2010 which, taking
into account the Easter bank holidays, is 20 working days from the day
after we received your request.

Yours sincerely

Joanne Crowley

Internal Compliance Officer

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Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 01625 545 700 Fax: 01625 524 510 Web: www.ico.gov.uk

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21st April 2010

Case Reference Number IRQ0302905

Dear Dr Bhatia

Thank you for your emails dated 19, 20 and 21 April 2010.  I am writing
further to our email dated 23 March 2010 in which we acknowledged your
request for information to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Specifically your request stated;

“* Please would you kindly send me:
1) the minutes
2) any briefing papers or documents sent out in advance

of all and any meetings (including conference calls) that the ICO
has held with the Department of Health (or Connecting for Health)
regarding any aspect of the NHS Summary Care Record, on or between 22nd
June 2009 and 21st May 2010.

(Where a meeting was not purely about the SCR but included
discussion about or relating to any aspect of the SCR then I will
be satisfied with the minutes and briefing papers of just those
relevant items)”.

As previously explained we are treating your request as a request for
information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the FOIA).

We note that you have used the date “21 May 2010” in your request,
however given that this date has not yet occurred we assume that the date
which you mean is 21 March 2010.

We have conducted a search of our systems and have identified that between
22 June 2009 and 21 March 2010 the ICO has had two meetings with the
Department of Health / Connecting for Health which refer to the Summary
Care Record.  These meeting were dated 27 August 2009 and 3 February
2010.

With regard to the meeting dated 27 August 2009 I have attached a copy of
a draft note of the meeting.  Please be advised that the attached
information is all the information which we hold in regard to this
meeting, we do not hold a copy of the “discussion paper” which is
referred to in the note.

In regard to the meeting dated 3 February 2010 this meeting was not purely
about the Summary Care Record matter.  In answer to your request I have
attached a copy of the agenda and meeting note (created by Connecting for
Health) however we have only provided those items which relate to Summary
Care Records.  The other items which have been redacted are outside the
scope of your request as they do not relate to the Summary Care Record. 

We have also attached a copy of a Connecting for Health briefing paper
dated January 2010 regarding the Summary Care Record.

You will note that there is no mention of agenda item 9 in the meeting
note.  I have checked with my colleagues who attended the meeting and
they have informed me that this matter was not discussed.  However we do
hold two emails from Connecting for Health dated 22 October 2009 and 11
December 2009 along with some powerpoint slides which relate to this item
which we have attached for your information.

We have however redacted the names of two individuals from these emails. 
This information is exempt under Section 40(2) of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 (FOIA) by virtue of Section 40(3)(a)(i).  Section
40(2) allows a public authority to withhold information from a response to
a request when the information requested is personal data relating to
someone other than the requestor and either the first or second condition
in Section 40(3) is satisfied.  In this instance the disclosure would
satisfy Section 40(3)(a)(i) as to disclose such information would
contravene one of the Data Protection principles.

We consider that such a disclosure would be unfair and in breach of the
first Data Protection principle which states that – “Personal data
shall be processed fairly and lawfully …”

We have also attached the information which we hold relating to agenda
items 10 and 11.

The information in regard to item 10 consists of;

Letter from the North East Strategic Health Authority to the ICO dated 11
December 2009;

Email from ICO to Connecting for Health dated 17 December 2009;

Emails between ICO and North East Strategic Health Authority dated 6
January 2010, 19 January 2010 and 26 January 2010.

With regard to the information marked “11” this was not distributed in
advance but rather was created by the ICO and taken to the meeting as a
prompt when this item was being discussed.

You will note that some information has been redacted from the information
marked “11”.  The information which has been redacted is the personal
data of third party individuals.  This information is exempt under
Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) by virtue of
Section 40(3)(a)(i).  Section 40(2) allows a public authority to withhold
information from a response to a request when the information requested is
personal data relating to someone other than the requestor and either the
first or second condition in Section 40(3) is satisfied.  In this
instance the disclosure would satisfy Section 40(3)(a)(i) as to disclose
such information would contravene one of the Data Protection principles.

We consider that such a disclosure would be unfair and in breach of the
first Data Protection principle which states that – “Personal data
shall be processed fairly and lawfully …”

For your information the handwritten numbers/annotations on the attached
papers were marked by my colleagues who attended the meeting so that they
could be referred to if necessary, they were not used as briefing papers.

Please be advised that the attached information is all the information
which we hold which falls within the scope of your request.

I trust that this information is of use to you however if you are
dissatisfied with the response you have received and wish to request a
review of our decision or make a complaint about how your request has been
handled you should write to the Internal Compliance Team at the address
below or e-mail [2][email address]

Your request for internal review should be submitted to us within 40
working days of receipt by you of this response. Any such request
received after this time will only be considered at the discretion of the
Commissioner.

If having exhausted the review process you are not content that your
request or review has been dealt with correctly, you have a further right
of appeal to this office in our capacity as the statutory complaint
handler under the legislation.  To make such an application, please write
to the Case Reception Team, at the address below or visit the
‘Complaints’ section of our website to make a Freedom of Information
Act or Environmental Information Regulations complaint online.

A copy of our review procedure is attached.

Yours sincerely

Joanne Crowley

Internal Compliance Officer

show quoted sections

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 Fax: 01625 524 510 Web: www.ico.gov.uk

References

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2. mailto:[email address]