Vancouver Private Hospital will respond to individuals' requests about the information that we hold and have recorded in any form and give right of access to that information.

Please go to Freedom of Information, In Depth, to view our Publication Scheme, we would ask that you read through the information published there, which may give you the information you require and therefore make an application for information unnecessary.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 provides rights of public access to information held by public authorities, including GPs.

Who can request information?
From January 2005, any individual, anywhere in the world, will be able to make a request to a practice for information. An applicant is entitled to be informed in writing, by the practice, whether the practice holds information of the description specified in the request and if that is the case, have the information communicated to him. An individual can request information, regardless of whether he/she is the subject of the information or affected by its use.

How should requests be made?
Requests must:
(i) be made in writing (this can be electronically e.g. email)
(ii) state the name of the applicant and an address for correspondence (iii) describe the information requested

The Practice will respond within 20 working days. Where a fee is required (see below), the deadline will be extended until the fee is paid.

How will the information be provided?
The applicant can request a copy of the information, ask to inspect the information or request a summary of the information. The practice is not obliged to comply with repeated or vexatious requests for information. The practice can refuse to supply identical or substantially similar information to any one person if a reasonable time has not passed since the previous request.

If a member of the public requests information, but their request is unclear and the practice has to contact the applicant to clarify the information requested, does this affect the 20 day rule?
Yes. If the practice has to contact an applicant to gain further information regarding the content of the request, then the 20 day response period is deemed to have started when the practice are quite clear of the information they are being asked to provide, not from the time of the original request.

What is the process if GPs do not want to disclose information?
GPs can only refuse to comply with the Act if one of the exemptions applies (see question 11).

GPs will issue a refusal notice to the person requesting the information. This refusal notice will state on what grounds the GP is refusing to disclose.

The refusal notice will also state what the appeals procedure is for a requestor, should he/she wish to contest the decision.

What if the information is already readily available?
If the Practice publish data we will refer requests to the material already published. The majority of information requested is already covered in the Practice Publication Scheme.

What information can GPs withhold?
This includes but is not limited to:

- Personal information, the handling and disclosure of which is regulated by the Data Protection Act 1998

- Information whose disclosure would harm the commercial interests of the public body or of a third party

- Information whose disclosure would harm the public good to an extent that is greater than the presumed public good of releasing it.

If the practice needs time to consider whether a public interest test applies, then the 20 day rule is extended for a reasonable period.

What is a vexatious or repeated request?
The Freedom of Information Act also allows practices to refuse to fulfil a request for information in cases where it is deemed to be “vexatious” or “repeated.”

A request maybe vexatious if:

- The applicant makes clear his or her intention is for the purpose of annoying the practice in retaliation/annoyance then this would be grounds for refusal.

- The request does not have any serious purpose or value.

- The request can fairly be characterised as obsessive or manifestly unreasonable.

What is the difference between disclosures under the Data Protection Act and the Freedom of Information Act?
Put simply, the Data Protection Act covers personal data, the Freedom of Information Act covers any other information held by the practice e.g. procedures, governance etc.