Written By: Jason Dowling
The Age Newspaper.
April 20, 2008
MORE than a dozen confidential medical records of Victorian WorkCover
patients have been sent by mistake to a member of the public in a breach
of patient confidentiality.
WorkSafe Victoria has sought an urgent briefing on the unauthorised
release of the documents, which include some marked "private and
confidential".
It is believed the patients involved have not yet been told their private
medical records have been compromised.
Rye resident Trent Flynn told The Sunday Age he was shocked when he
opened his mail in February and discovered page after page of medical
records concerning strangers. "It is unbelievable," he said.
The documents sent to him by QBE Workers Compensation, an agent
of the Victorian WorkCover Authority, included patients' names and
addresses, injury descriptions, medical assistance provided and doctors'
details.
Mr Flynn, who suffered a back injury and is undergoing treatment, said it
was not the first time he had been sent other people's information by
WorkCover.
"It's happened before. I have been sent letters from the start that were
addressed to me but inside it wasn't even me," he said.
Mr Flynn said he wrote to WorkCover seeking paperwork related to his
rehabilitation claim but instead was sent the documents of 13 other
WorkCover patients.
"They sent me a photocopy box full of paperwork. All through it was
just stuff that they didn't need to send me," he said. "The whole thing
has just been chaos."
Mr Flynn — who has handed the documents to his lawyers for safe
keeping — said he came forward because he was concerned his private
medical details could be the next to be wrongly released by WorkCover.
"I don't want people to know what's happened to me," he said.
WorkSafe Victoria spokesman Sam Jenkin said WorkSafe was "very
concerned about the nature of the alleged breach" and had sought a
detailed report from QBE on how the incident occurred and the steps
being taken to ensure such breaches did not occur again.
"WorkSafe has also asked QBE to retrieve the information from the
claimant in question," he said. WorkSafe has requested that QBE also
contact those affected to advise them of the situation.
It is believed that WorkSafe is furious with the breach of client
confidentiality by QBE.
Opposition WorkCover spokesman Gordon Rich-Phillips said he was
shocked that people's private medical details had been released.
"It is appalling that confidential information relating to 13 separate
people was printed off, put in an envelope and mailed to the applicant,
without anyone realising the error," he said.
Mr Rich-Phillips said it was not the first time that an organisation
under the responsibility of WorkCover Minister Tim Holding had
mistakenly released confidential information.
In 2005 it was revealed that thousands of pages of confidential police
files were mistakenly released by Victoria Police while Mr Holding was
police minister.
"Tim Holding has experience when it comes to major breaches of
confidential records, with the illegal access of the LEAP database several
years ago and now this latest scandal into the release of private medical
records," Mr Rich-Phillips said.
"Minister Holding has a responsibility to protect the medical records and
private information of victims with claims lodged with WorkCover and a
thorough investigation must be undertaken into the particular
circumstances surrounding this latest breach."
Mr Holding refused to comment.
Typical of Little Timmy isn't it, someone should tell him that by refusing to
comment on such an important issue that it only makes him look
guilty.
Didn't being the Police Minister, teach you that LittleTimmy!
I too, have recieved another persons information and when I alerted worksafe
to it, they threatened me, to keep quiet about it in writing, the morons !
I'm assuming that's their usual tatics!
Pretty Poor though, isn't it
Come On Worksafe, get your shit together!!!!!!!
This is peoples lives your dealing with here!!!!
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