Baxendell and Health Rights Commission

Baxendell and Health Rights Commission
(1995 S0171, 10 November 1997) 

The applicant was a nursing consultant at Wolston Park Hospital who was involved in an incident in which a patient's leg was injured, subsequently requiring amputation.  The applicant considered that segments of the Health Rights Commission report into the incident were unfairly adverse to him. 

The applicant sought access to extracts from the medical records of the injured patient.  The Information Commissioner held that the public interest in protecting the privacy of an individual's medical records is a strong one, which in this instance was not outweighed by the public interest considerations said by the applicant to favour disclosure.  The Information Commissioner found the matter in issue to be exempt under s.44(1) of the FOI Act.