A health board has accused Scotland’s information tsar of being ‘emotional’, ‘selective’ and ‘not professional’ after he condemned its decision to withhold costs associated with a landmark ‘single sex spaces’ employment tribunal, MailOnline can reveal.
NHS Fife bosses were left fizzing with rage at David Hamilton, the Scottish Information Commissioner, after he ruled the board had acted unlawfully by rejecting requests to reveal its legal bill for the Sandie Peggie case, internal documents show.
Staff annotated a copy of Mr Hamilton’s final judgement, handed down in May, with ‘whingeing’ comments blasting the Commissioner’s decision.
And in a huge data breach, they mistakenly sent the diatribe to a mother who had requested a copy of her poorly son’s medical records.
Vicki Tocher, whose battle to get her youngster Isaac, 8, treatment from NHS Fife made headlines last week, said she was ‘shocked’ to receive the annotated document rather than her son’s records.
She said: ‘This unacceptable large data breach caused unnecessary stress...This incident shows NHS Fife’s complete disregard for patients, staff, and the Scottish Information Commissioner’s Office.’
Meanwhile the Scottish Information Commissioner, Mr Hamilton, condemned the health board for ‘wasting time’ compiling the broadside against him rather than fulfilling its legal obligations to review its responses to FOI requests.
He said: ‘I’m aware that an NHS Fife staff member’s personal commentary on the case was mistakenly disclosed into the public domain.
I am confident, however, that it is unlikely to reflect the final view of the health board itself.
‘My real concern is that valuable time has been wasted instead of expediting the additional actions I have required in that decision.’