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Andrew Ledgard, GMC’s Information Policy Manager, faces Professional Misconduct Complaint Mr Andrew Ledgard, the General Medical Council’s Information Policy Manager, is facing allegations of Professional Misconduct in a complaint to his professional body, the Society of Archivists, NHS Exposed has learned. The complaint follows Mr Ledgard’s refusal, on behalf of the General Medical Council, to cease processing a member of the public’s Sensitive Personal Data. According to the Data Protection Act 1998, Sensitive Personal Data can include information about a person’s health, sexuality and religion, amongst other things. The individual, who does not wish to be named, discovered that a document containing their Sensitive Personal Data had been obtained and submitted to the GMC without their knowledge or consent, by a non-medical member of the public, as part of a complaint against a medical professional. Outraged at this unauthorised use of their Sensitive Personal Data, the individual concerned wrote to the GMC and made a request in accordance with Section 10 of the Data Protection Act, to the effect that the GMC should immediately cease processing their Sensitive Personal Data. Mr Ledgard, acting in his capacity as the GMC’s Information Policy Manager, wrote back stating that the GMC did not have to comply with the Section 10 request, and did not intend to do so, because it felt that the processing was “substantially in the public interest”. Mr Ledgard’s letter included reference to legislation that, the GMC claimed, supported their position. Unsatisfied with this letter of refusal, the person concerned advised Mr Ledgard that the information may have been obtained and passed on to the GMC in a manner that was incompatible with the terms of the Data Protection Act, and that its insistence on processing their Sensitive Personal Data against their wishes may constitute a breach of the Right to Private and Family life laid down in Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The First Data Protection Principle, as set out in the Data Protection Act, requires that processing must be fair and lawful. The individual pointed this out to Mr Ledgard, adding that, regardless of the alleged public interest argument, continued processing of their Sensitive Personal Data under such circumstances could be unlawful and therefore contrary to the provisions of the Data Protection Act. Mr Ledgard’s response to this further communication was to simply reiterate the GMC’s position. Now, incensed by this refusal to respect their desire – much less their potential right - for privacy, this individual has instigated a formal complaint to Andrew Ledgard’s professional body, the Society of Archivists. The Society, of whose governing Council Mr Ledgard is a member, claims to be the principal professional body for archivists, archive conservators and records managers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It exists to promote the care and preservation of archives and the better administration of archive repositories, to advance the training of its members and to encourage relevant research and publication. As part of its function it maintains a Code of Conduct, and a disciplinary procedure, which Mr Ledgard may now have to face. NHS Exposed understands that the complaint against Mr Ledgard alleges breach of several sections of the Society’s Code of Conduct, including: Paragraph a) members must seek to promote the objects of the Society as set out in its Memorandum and Articles of Association, and must not engage in any action which is contrary to those objects. Paragraph b) members of the Society must conduct themselves in such a way that their behaviour would not reasonably be regarded by the Council of the Society as professional misconduct. Paragraph g) members must not misuse or allow unauthorised disclosure or use of any information acquired by them, in confidence, in the course of their professional work. Paragraph h) the primary duty of members is to maintain the integrity of the records in their care and custody but in performing this duty, they must balance the respective, legitimate rights and interests of employers, owners, data subjects and users, both present and future. It is understood that the Society has yet to consider the complaint against Mr Ledgard. Regardless of the eventual outcome, however, this incident clearly demonstrates the utter contempt in which the General Medical Council holds the general public. The individual concerned is an innocent third party whose Sensitive Personal Data has been passed to the GMC without their knowledge or consent. In view of the GMC’s past record of leaking confidential information like a sieve, this person can hardly be blamed for objecting, in the strongest possible terms, to them processing this data for any purpose whatsoever.
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