Hospital records of 18 patients found on a street in Drogheda

Documents containing the names and dates of birth of 18 hospital patients have been found on a street in Drogheda, Co Louth.

A member of the public found four pages of a consultant's report yesterday morning.

They include details of the units the patients were treated in at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital in the town.

They have been returned to the HSE, who have notified the office of the Data Protection Commission.

Speaking to LMFM this morning, Sheila O'Connor of Patient Focus described the latest breach as "unforgivable and scandalous".

She said: "People think 'oh we have a procedure in place, so that's that box ticked', but that's not what it's about. It's dreadful.

"It's unforgivable to have these repeats and who knows how many times it's actually happened where it hasn't become public?

"It is now well past time that people started consulting their solicitors on these breaches from Drogheda."