The spokesperson for Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) made the following announcement today (April 13) regarding an incident of loss of patient data:
The hospital received report from the Medical Specialist Outpatient Clinic last night (April 12) that a member of the clerical staff took approximately 100 sheets of patient records delivery notes issued by the Medical Records Office home after work without informing or obtaining approval from supervisor and accidentally left the notes on a taxi. The notes contain mainly the names and Hong Kong Identity Card numbers of some of the patients who have follow-up appointments at the Medical Clinic from April 16 to 20. According to preliminary assessment, several hundreds of patients might be involved.
The hospital was extremely concerned and has taken immediate follow-up actions after learning the incident, which includes informing the police and contacting the Taxi Union Lost Report Service Centre trying to relocate the concerned notes. The hospital has also started to contact the affected patients through mail to inform them of the incident and offer apology. A hotline (telephone number: 3505 4031) has been set up to answer patients' enquiries.
The hospital has stringent guidelines on the protection of patients' privacy. All members of staff should keep patients' data in good custody and comply with the guidelines on the safe keeping of patients' records. No patient information should be taken out of the hospital unless in special circumstances, such as to transfer with the patient to another hospital.
The hospital would take follow-up actions in accordance with the established human resources procedures, and all staff has been reminded on the guidelines on the safe keeping and handling of patients' records to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents.
The hospital has reported the incident to the Hospital Authority Head Office via the Advance Incident Reporting System and notified the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of the incident. The hospital would like to offer its sincere apology once again to the patients who are affected by the incident.
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