Medical files found dumped in public bin

THE HSE is investigating how highly sensitive patient records from the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar were found dumped in a public bin on the grounds of Roscommon Hospital — almost 80 kilometres away.

The records, which were discovered by a woman walking her dog, are believed to relate to around 100 patients who have attended the Midlands facility’s emergency department since May of this year.

They are understood to contain private data such as patients’ names, dates of birth, addresses, contact details and medical conditions, meaning the dumping could leave people vulnerable to fraud or personal identity theft.

The find came to light after the documents were handed over to the Roscommon Hospital Action Committee (RHAC), which is involved in an ongoing stand-off with health service managers and Government ministers over the downgrading of the West of Ireland facility.

On receiving the records, the group contacted gardaí and the Data Protection Commissioner. In a statement, a spokesperson for the office of the Data Protection Commissioner said the independent State watchdog is “satisfied” there is an explanation “from within the HSE” for the scandal.

The spokesperson added that after holding a lengthy meeting with senior HSE officials yesterday afternoon, it is of the view that the health service should initially investigate what occurred.

It is understood that while some concerns have been raised in reports over the RHAC’s involvement in the issue, the Data Protection Commissioner believes the patient body acted in good faith at all times since the find. It has been suggested that one or more members of staff within the HSE may have naively taken the records from Mullingar to Roscommon before dumping them.

While this has not been confirmed, sources said this explanation would mean there was no malice involved, with investigators instead looking at how such a significant security breach occurred.

In a statement, a HSE spokesperson said the organisation’s first priority is to ensure its existing security measures are strong enough to prevent further serious information leaks.

“The HSE has clear policies in place for the management and disposal of confidential documents and takes any potential breach of these policies extremely seriously.

“Once this issue was brought to our attention, the HSE immediately commenced an investigation to establish how this breach occurred.

“The HSE is also working closely with the Data Protection Commissioner. [Our] immediate priority is to retrieve the information and verify the nature of it,” she said.

RHAC chairman John McDermott said there had been no attempt to shred the documents or obscure personal details before they were dumped.

“There was a variety of documents. One document would have the patient’s name and address, chart number, diagnosis, treatment,” he said.

“Some of them would have been typed and there would have been additional notes in biro on them. And then you would have reports on things like colonoscopies, CT scans.”

The discovery is reminiscent of a major scandal highlighted by the Irish Examiner in 2008, when patient records which had been given to a private firm so they could be safely disposed of were found in a public dump — without any security measures such as shredding taking place.