Patient files from Cheltenham Hospital dumped in field by taxi driverMEDICAL files from Cheltenham General Hospital were dumped by a taxi driver delivering them to another hospital after he suffered a panic attack.
Bilal Baig threw the confidential notes over a hedge when he was transferring them from the town.
Police managed to find the missing files before anyone else picked up the personal information.
But the authorities were only alerted after motorist Peter Kay saw Baig dumping the files as he turned off the motorway.
Baig lied to his father, who runs the taxi firm, claiming he had left the files at Worcester Royal Hospital, a court was told.
The 21-year-old pleaded guilty at Worcester Crown Court to the theft of the documents which were on the way from Cheltenham General Hospital to Worcester on October 27 last year.
He was given a 12-month community order and told to do 75 hours unpaid work and pay £1,200 costs.
And Judge John Cavell ordered the court to pay £100 to Mr Kay, of Pierre Road, Birmingham, for his public-spirited action in reporting the incident.
The notes included confidential details of cancer patients and were entrusted to Baig because regular transport was not available.
Martin Butterworth, defending, said Baig had suffered "a curious panic attack" because of depression and he had reduced his medication.
One of the worst aspects of the case was that he had lied to his father, who ran the taxi firm, he added.
Baig, of Worcester, had nothing to gain by his actions and he had now been relieved of driving and given a less responsible job in the workshop.
The judge described it as a most unusual case of theft for reasons difficult to understand.
Although all the prescriptions were backed-up on computer, there had been a potential loss of confidentiality if the documents had been lost.
Bosses at Gloucestershire NHS Trust said they used hospital transportation for notes except when there was an urgent clinical need.
In those circumstances, it used lockable crates for transferring records outside trust premises.
A spokeswoman for the trust said: "Keeping patients' information safe is something the NHS takes extremely seriously. We are legally required to keep personal information confidential and follow strict guidelines in order to do this.
"Cases such as this are thankfully very rare. However, it has prompted both trusts to review our procedures for transferring patient notes and further strengthen these in order to reduce the risk of an incident reoccurring".
http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/ ... story.html
Login
Register
FAQ
