Probe into patient files dumped in Galway bog

AN investigation has been launched after patient documents from a hospital in Sligo were found dumped in a bog in Co Galway.

It is the latest embarrassment for the Health Service Executive following the discovery of patients’ medical records dumped in Mayo and Roscommon in recent weeks.

The documents from Sligo General Hospital were found by litter wardens who were cleaning up waste at a notorious dumping ground outside the village of Abbeyknockmoy in north Co Galway.

The chairman of the HSE West Forum, Cllr Pádraig Conneely, has called for a full investigation not just into the latest discovery of dumped documents but into the procedures used by hospitals to dispose of medical records.

The HSE said yesterday a full inquiry had been launched.

The office of the Data Protection Commissioner said the documents did not contain personal information. However, a county councillor in Abbeyknockmoy, who saw some of the documents found by the litter wardens, said names were visible on the partially shredded documents.

“You could see some of the names and the addresses,” said Cllr Peter Roche. “An attempt had been made to shred the documents but the names were identifiable. It’s very upsetting,” added the Fine Gael councillor.

The documents were discovered in a black refuse sack on the side of a bog road outside Abbeyknockmoy, about 10km from Tuam, and were handed over to the HSE before being taken to Sligo.

The HSE West said the documents contained “general stationery and clinical documentation” and that the papers had been shredded by a commercial waste company.

Central to the HSE investigation will be how the documents from the hospital in Sligo ended up dumped in a bog 125km away.

Last week, patient documents from St Joseph’s Hospital in Ballina were found dumped on a street in the Co Mayo town. And a fortnight ago medical records from the Midlands Hospital in Mullingar were found in the grounds of Roscommon General Hospital.

The chairman of the HSE West Forum, Galway city based Cllr Conneely, said the discovery of the documents was “disgraceful” and that procedures needed to be changed immediately.

“It is deeply upsetting for people and it is clear this is not an isolated incident. Indeed, it is just the latest in a disgraceful level of ineptitude and you just fear what will turn up next.

“I want a full inquiry and I want people to be held to account. Who is responsible for the disposal of medical records? I want to know what procedures are in place for the disposal of documents and who is in charge because the system clearly is not working,” said the former mayor of Galway.