Data Protection Commissioner probes discovery of patient details on Louth street

An investigation is continuing after four pages of medical notes containing patients’ details were found on the street in Co Louth yesterday.

A member of the public found the pages from the consultant’s report, containing details including name, age and date of birth of patients.

The pages also include details of the units the patients were treated in at Our Lady of Lourdes hospital.

The office of the Data Protection Commissioner has been notified.

The man, who made the discovery, on a street near the hospital, handed the documents in to local radio station LMFM. The station returned the documents to the HSE.

Sheila O’Connor, spokeswoman for patient advocacy group Patient Focus, said the apparent data breach in relation to patients attending Our Lady of Lourdes was the third such incident since 2015.

A spokesperson for the Data Protection Commissioner said: “I can confirm that a breach notification has been made to the Data Protection Commissioner by the HSE and the office is liaising with them on the matter.”