WYE Valley NHS Trust is fighting to keep the full details of fire safety breaches at Hereford County Hospital from going public.

The Trust will take on the Information Commissioner over work by a research campaigner to expose the extent the findings.

Full release of the findings would, the trust says, put patient confidence and service contracts at risk.

 The Information Commissioner, however, has ruled that a case for release can be made.

In December 2012, the Hereford Times reported that Hereford County Hospital had failed a fire safety test after the trust found that parts of the hospital did not meet building regulations and presented a fire threat.

Further investigation found the threat extended throughout the hospital.

Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue served enforcement notices on the trust and its PFI partner Mercia Healthcare requiring remedial work to be done.

A year later the trust confirmed that the hospital had an all clear over fire safety. Behind the scenes, the trust and Mercia had engaged in a protracted dispute as to responsibility for the breaches.

Mercia, responsible for the construction and maintenance of the hospital, vigorously disputed the trust’s findings and the issue was subject to dispute resolution.

A final figure for the settlement of the dispute was put at £3.5 million.

Sid Ryan, of the Centre for Investigative Journalism, which that promotes the practice of in-depth journalism on public interest issues, made a Freedom of Information request to the trust for the findings of the dispute.

This request was refused with the trust saying disclosure of the extent of fire safety breaches would prejudice its commercial interest and jeopardise the negotiation of service contracts and relationships with PFI partners.

An appeal over non-closure went to the Information Commissioner, who found a public interest case could be made for releasing documents that allowed for a fuller understanding of the fire safety dispute.

The Trust is now appealing this decision at the Information Rights Tribunal.

In a statement, the trust said the appeal was based on the principle of “certain contractual information”  which must remain confidential to protect its interests.

Beyond this, it would be “improper” for the trust to make further comment on an on-going legal issue, the statement said.

Mr Ryan told the Hereford Times that in fighting disclosure the cash-strapped trust had opted to spend “a lot of time and money” despite effectively being told that there was no good reason to keep the details of the fire safety breaches secret. 

“In general, the Commissioner recognises that PFI has been widely criticised as poor value for money and that a lack of transparency contributes to this. Specific to this dispute, there is a very strong case for allowing the public to see how matters relating to health and safety are dealt with, and that their taxes are being protected adequately during this commercial dispute,” he said.