The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The spokesperson for Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) made the following announcement today (November 11) regarding an incident of loss of patient records.
A clerical staff reported that one steel filing cabinet could not be located in the store room last Friday (November 6). A preliminary investigation found that a contractor had been arranged to clear the store room on October 10 to prepare for renovation work. It is suspected that the cabinet was removed during this process.
The locked cabinet was used to store service records pending destruction, including 442 patients who received "Integrated Care and Discharge Support" services in 2012 and 2013. The records contained names, identity card numbers, addresses, telephone numbers and service records. Some of them also contained the name, identity card number, address, telephone number of the contact person or the relatives of the patient.
QMH apologises to the patients concerned. About 100 patients are still alive and will be notified by Patient Relations Officers. Patients may contact the Patient Relations Office (2255 1366) for enquiry. QMH has also notified the Hospital Authority Head Office through the Advance Incident Reporting System and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data. The hospital is highly concerned about the incident and will review the storage and destruction arrangement of patient records.
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