HSE identifies worker suspected of dumping patient files

THE HSE has identified the worker they believe dumped the sensitive records of 100 patients from the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar in a public bin at Roscommon County Hospital more than 80km away.

Sources close to the investigation have told the Irish Examiner a single individual has been identified and is currently being interviewed by HSE officials over the scandal. It is understood this person works in the health service in Mullingar.

While the HSE has declined to confirm this information as it is part of an ongoing inquiry, health service management yesterday changed responsibility for public comments on the case from the HSE West region to HSE Dublin Mid-Leinster.

In a statement confirming developments have taken place in the case, a spokesperson for the Data Protection Commissioner said the HSE is following “a very definite line of inquiry”.

A HSE spokesperson said the Midland Regional Hospital in Mullingar now has the documents: “[We have] clear policies in place for the management and disposal of confidential documents and take any potential breach of these policies extremely seriously.”

The highly sensitive patient records — which contain private data such as names, dates of birth, addresses, contact details and medical conditions — were found in a public bin on the Roscommon facility’s grounds last week by a woman walking her dog.

In the wrong hands, this detailed information on private citizens could leave them open to potential fraud or identity theft, a situation which would also have left the HSE liable for subsequent difficulties.

The find emerged after the woman handed the documents over to the Roscommon Hospital Action Committee, which is involved in a stand-off with health service managers and Government ministers over the downgrading of the hospital.

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