Medical records from York Hospital found in street (From York Press)

Medical records from York Hospital found in street

11:00am Friday 20th March 2009 in

Exclusive By Nicola Fifield » Senior reporter

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CONFIDENTIAL information about seriously-ill patients at York Hospital has been found on a pavement nearly two miles from the hospital.

The document, which was discovered by a member of the public, gave details of 19 patients who were being treated on the hospital’s acute medical unit, including their names, ages and medical history.

One patient, whose name and bed number is given, is listed as having HIV and syphilis.

Paul Ward, deputy chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, a charity that campaigns on behalf of people with HIV and AIDS, said the breach of confidentiality was “totally unacceptable”.

He said: “For anyone with HIV who is facing stigma, having personal information about their health being inadvertently made public is very worrying.

“We recognise that when you run a complex organisation like a hospital, getting it right all the time can be quite difficult.

“However, people place their trust and faith in hospitals. They trust staff to treat everything they tell them confidentially and if there has been a failing we ask York Hospital to redouble its efforts to make sure it is able to ensure full confidentiality in the future.”

The find was made by a local resident, who discovered the document lying on a pavement at the junction between Hilda Street and Granville Terrace, in the Lawrence Street area of York.

The 19 patients affected by the confidentiality breach were predominantly elderly, but the youngest patient was 27.

They were suffering from a range of serious illnesses, including breast cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and multiple sclerosis.

Handwritten notes gave details of personal information about their nursing care.

Mike Proctor, deputy chief executive of York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, apologised and said a full investigation had been launched. He said: “We take the protection of all patient information very seriously and we apologise to any of our patients and their families who may have been caused distress by this potential breach of their confidentiality.

“We are making contact with the patients who have information contained within this document, to apologise, to reassure them, and to hear their concerns.

“Our policies and processes regarding staff responsibilities for such information are very clear, and we are appalled that details of this nature have been found outside the hospital.

“The trust began investigating this as a serious untoward incident as soon as it was brought to our attention and based on the outcome of this investigation we will take appropriate action. Personal accountabilities and responsibilities have been reinforced with all staff following this incident.”

City of York councillor Sandy Fraser, who sits on York Hospital’s board of governors, said he expected the matter to be discussed at the next meeting of the governing body.

He said: “Any breach of patient confidentiality is serious and regrettable.”

Comments(20)

moose says...
12:24pm Fri 20 Mar 09

why did the person who found them give all the personal information the papers contained to The Press?

There's no need to make a bad situation worse - by all means make The Press aware of the incident, but don't actually give them the details!