Outrage over Mayo patient hospital records found dumped in a housing estate

THE discovery of a bagful of patient hospital records in a Castlebar housing estate has sparked concern and outrage.

The highly personal and 'confidential' data related to a number of patients at Mayo University Hospital (MUH).

Refuse staff attached to Mayo County Council made the disturbing find.

The council immediately contacted the hospital who, in turn, wrote to patients informing them of the serious breach of data protection.

Hospital management has apologised by letter to the former patients involved.

They made it clear they had reacted promptly to arrange for the retrieval and securing of the data involved.

Management also apologised for the breach of confidentiality.

Its letter to affected patients contained an assurance that MUH treats such matters with 'the utmost seriousness'.

"Corrective measures have been put in place to prevent such an incident from ever happening again," the letter stated.

MUH says the matter has been reported to the HSE Consumer Affairs Department and – in line with HSE data protection breach management procedures – the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

One patient involved, a middle-aged man living in the Castlebar area, said he was 'shocked' when informed by the hospital that confidential information relating to a recent hospital stay had gone astray.

"I was told that the bag which was found contained some information which clearly identified me, such as my name and date of birth, as well as other details," he told The Connaught Telegraph.

Michael Kilcoyne, an Independent member of Mayo County Council, said he too was shocked to learn of the data blunder.

"There have been a number of data breaches relating to the HSE West region over the years. When is the HSE ever going to learn?” he asked.