N&N to apologise to patients over breach


19 December 2007 07:00

Bosses at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital will be making personal apologies to every patient affected by a serious breach of confidentiality.

As the Evening News reported yesterdaymore than 30 patients' details were on hospital records which were dumped in a wheelie bin and discovered by a member of the public last week.

The shocking discovery was made by a woman living in Bowthorpe who found several sheets of information that had been left in her bin which included the name, age and hospital number of sick people as well as details of care, medical history and discharge information.

The N&N launched an immediate inquiry and appointed one of its assistant nursing directors as an investigating officer who believes the notes belonged to a nurse.

Today all staff at the flagship hospital will be reminded they must follow security procedures at all times.

A spokesman said: “Over the next 48 hours we will also be contacting those patients affected to apologise for this serious and regrettable breach of their confidentiality.

“The investigation is focusing on how those handover notes left the hospital and ended up in the wheelie bin. Our policy is that such ward handover notes should always be placed in the confidential waste bins on our wards following handover.

“The next step will involve an interview with the individual concerned and we will then follow the proper disciplinary processes, as appropriate.

“All of our staff have employment contracts that make very clear the duty they have to maintain patient confidentiality and all staff have been reminded of the seriousness of that duty and the need to follow procedures at all time.”

Many of the patients affected by the security breach are elderly with serious illnesses and conditions including ovarian, lung, breast and ovarian cancer, liver disease and stomach disorders.

And personal information, along with handwritten notes, were also included in the documents such as patients who have received chemotherapy or have been tested for superbugs.

The 67-year-old lady who discovered the documents said she was “shocked and stunned” to find the patients records in her bin which related to a three-day period at the start of December.

The findings have raised serious concerns surrounding patient confidentiality and how personal documents have so blatantly been left in the public domain.

Patient watchdog the Public and Patient Involvement (PPI) Forum said they would be asking the hospital to strongly reinforce rules over patient records through training.

Sandie Johnson from the N&N PPI Forum said: “We are extremely concerned to learn that any patient record has left the hospital, which is strictly against all N&N policy. The fact that, not only were these records removed from the hospital, but that they appear to have been disposed of in such a cavalier fashion shows a complete disregard for the basic tenant of patient/doctor relations and patient confidentiality.

“We have been assured by the NNUH that an urgent review is taking place to trace the culprit/s, who may face disciplinary procedures. We will also be pressing for reassurance from the Trust management that rules relating to patient records will be reinforced during training for all staff who have access.”