Ireland’s health service operator, the Health Service Executive (HSE), has been fined €645,000 by the country’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) after medical records were found stored in unsuitable and poorly maintained locations. Inspections revealed records kept in areas including a disused bathroom and a turf shed, with some storage sites affected by mould, poor lighting and animal droppings.
The DPC said the records were kept in a state of serious disorganisation and neglect, creating risks of unauthorised access to sensitive medical information. Some documents had been damaged or effectively destroyed by mould, rubble and decay. The regulator found that the problems involved both the physical condition of storage facilities and the protection and integrity of the records.
The HSE has been ordered to audit all its storage facilities, remove records from unsuitable locations and introduce a proper management system for paper records. The organisation, which was previously fined €65,000 in 2020 for similar failures, accepted the findings and said it would follow the recommendations. It also apologised to patients and people using its services.
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