Conservative Party plans to crack down on Freedom of Information (FoI) rights could see charges of up to £4,000 levied on those gathering data on National Health Service (NHS) structures such as clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).
Most public institutions are required to answer FoI requests for free, but under new plans reportedly under consideration by a commission set up by the Tories, some areas of the NHS could charge up to £20 per request.
Under the plans, CCGs would charge the maximum amount, meaning requests on all 209 groups would cost £4,180.
A request into the 155 acute trusts would cost £3,100 in total, and information of the 56 mental health trusts and 43 community providers would cost £1,120 and £680 respectively.
Even requesting information on the ten ambulance trusts would cost £200.
FoI legislation has helped cast light on the health service, revealing the extent of creeping privatization.
Pricing investigators out of data requests may have an ulterior motive. The NHS continues to prove a sore-point for the Conservative administration.
Via RT.