Medical records find - Who is responsible?

THE uncovering of medical records by railroad construction workers in the Glounthaune area between Cork and Midleton yesterday raises serious questions that must be answered.

Medical records should be considered most confidential, and it is staggering to think that hospital authorities could be so reckless as to dispose of such records in a cavalier manner.

The records included letters from GPs and medical files dating from the 1970s and 1980s from Cork Regional Hospital and St Finbarr’s Hospital. They were apparently dumped in the area when it was licensed as a landfill site for dry, non-organic waste, such as building rubble, between 1983 and 1986.