A woman was told she had cancer by a hospital employee she barely knew who had accessed her medical records days before she was due to receive test results from her consultant.
Pippa Boardman said she lost her dignity and privacy through the data breach at the Royal Cornwall hospital in Truro.
Boardman, from Lostwithiel in Cornwall, said her personal information was accessed by a man she knew only vaguely who worked at the hospital.
She said: “I got a phone call at home from somebody I know through the sport that I play. This man said to me: ‘Pippa, I don’t want you to worry, but you’ve got cancer.’ I just couldn’t really believe it.”
Two days later, Boardman was told by her consultant she did have breast cancer.
Boardman, who is recovering well from the cancer, said Royal Cornwall’s handling of the case had reinforced her trauma, and she said the trust only apologised once it had been contacted by reporters at the BBC.
She told the BBC: “It really distresses me people can’t see just how invasive and intrusive it is if somebody looks at your information and then shares it inappropriately.”
A spokesperson for the Royal Cornwall hospitals trust said: “We are truly sorry that Ms Boardman was contacted in this way. Whilst the member of staff had legitimate access to her records as part of their work, it was outside of their role to contact her and discuss her diagnosis. This should not have happened, and we recognise the distress and concern it will have caused.
“Appropriate action was taken following our investigation, which was carried out immediately after Ms Boardman raised her concern. While we cannot disclose the details of individual employment matters, we want to reassure Ms Boardman that we have treated this extremely seriously.
“We have reminded all our staff of their responsibility to protect patient confidentiality and that records must only ever be accessed for a legitimate work-related reason. We are also reviewing our policies and processes in light of the strengthened NHS England guidance on inappropriate access to patient information.
“We sincerely apologise to Ms Boardman for what happened and for the time she has had to wait for answers.”
