Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2023-003 Released

  • Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner

January 31, 2023

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Michael Harvey, has released his Report A-2023-003 under authority of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015. A summary of the Report is included below.

To view the Report in its entirety, please go to www.oipc.nl.ca/reports/commissioner.

Report: A-2023-003
Report Date: January 30, 2023
Public Body: Department of Health and Community Services
Summary: The Department of Health and Community Services received an access request under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act, 2015 for records related to adverse patient safety incidents. The Department responded that there were no records responsive to the request. The Complainant filed a complaint with this Office. The Commissioner concluded that the Department had failed in its duty to assist the Complainant by failing to engage with the Complainant to understand the request, and by failing to conduct a reasonable search for records. The Commissioner also concluded that the Department initially failed to satisfy our Office that it does not hold records that might be responsive to the Complainant’s request, and that the Department initially refused to provide our Office with records, information about records, or information about the search conducted, to enable our Office to deal with the issues in this complaint. The Commissioner recommended that the Department continue its now ongoing a search for and analysis of records, provide a new Final Response to the Complainant, and provide to the Complainant copies of all responsive records located, subject to any applicable exceptions to access or exclusions that may apply.

-30-

Media contact
Sean Murray
Director of Research & Quality Assurance
709-729-6309

2023 01 31 12:45 pm