General Medical Council revalidation for doctors.

Summary

The request sought the number of practicing doctors on the Isle of Man and reasons for those not revalidated within five years. The Department of Health and Social Care disclosed the total doctor count and the number of non-revalidated practitioners but withheld the specific reasons due to personal data exemptions.

Key Facts

• There were 234 doctors practicing on the Isle of Man as of January 20, 2020.
• Two doctors had not been revalidated within the required five-year period.
• The reasons for non-revalidation were withheld to protect individual anonymity.
• The exemption was applied under section 39(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015.
• The Department determined that maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosure.

Data Disclosed

• 234
• 2
• 2020-01-06
• 2020-01-29
• 2020-01-20
• 1121127

Exemptions Cited

• Section 39(1)(b) of the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (Qualified exempt personal information)
• Article 4(1) of the Applied GDPR

Original Request

The General Medical Council require all practicing doctors to undertake revalidation, to prove competency every 5 years. Question 1 Please advise the number of doctors currently practicing on the Isle of Man and the numbers that have not been revalidated within a 5 year period? Question 2 Where doctors have not been reavalidated within a 5 year period, can the Department advise the reason for this?

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Chief Executive: Kathryn Magson Freedom of Information Team Department of Health & Social Care Chief Executive's Office Crookall House Demesne Road Douglas Isle of Man IM1 3QA Tel: (01624) 642621 Email: dhsc@foi.gov.im Website: www.gov.im/dhsc Our ref: 1121127 31st January 2020

Dear ###

We write further to your request which was received on the 6th January 2020 and states:

“Question 1 Please advise the number of doctors currently practicing on the Isle of Man and the numbers that have not been revalidated within a 5 year period? Question 2 Where doctors have not been revalidated within a 5 year period; can the Department advise the reason for this?”

Our response to your request is as follows: Question 1 Please advise the number of doctors currently practicing on the Isle of Man and the numbers that have not been revalidated within a 5 year period? The following table sets out the information requested. This information changes as doctors move to and from the Island. The information is correct on the date it was completed, i.e. 20th January 2020. Number of doctors on the Isle of Man Number of doctors that have not been revalidated within a five year period 234 2

Question 2 Where doctors have not been revalidated within a 5 year period; can the Department advise the reason for this? The Department can confirm it holds information in ref to Q2, however this information is a qualified exemption to disclosure under s39(1)(b) of the Act; namely while our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the information is exempt as it constitutes personal data of a person other than you and under Article 4(1) of the Applied GDPR ‘personal data’, namely; s39 Qualified exempt personal information, (1) Information is qualified exempt information if – (b) under Article 4(1) of the Applied GDPR the data subject would be entitled to prevent disclosure of the information to a member of the public otherwise under this Act. Factors in favour of disclosing the information include: • Openness and transparency • eliminating the speculation as to the reason why 2 doctors have not been revalidated • there are a number of acceptable reasons why a doctor may not have been revalidated within the 5 year recommendation

Factors in favour of maintaining the exemption include: • continue to provide a level of anonymity for individual doctors; i.e. there is a possibility that disclosing this information would result in identifying individual doctors • maintaining public confidence in doctors who are providing public services • reducing any potential distrust in doctors who have not been revalidated yet • preventing the direct identification of this practitioner, potentially damaging their reputation and ability to continue to practice In assessing the weight to be attributed to each of the factors in favour of disclosing the information and maintaining the exemption, the Department has taken the following into consideration: • The severity of the impact of the prejudice is significantly weighted towards maintaining the exemption. In taking all of these factors into account the Department determines that the factors in favour of maintaining the exemption outweigh the factors in favour of disclosing the information.

Please quote the reference number 1121127 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.

Yours sincerely