Taylor Shire reports:
REGINA — Four more cases of medical files being found in dumpsters has prompted the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner, Gary Dickson, to take action.
Records were found in a Saskatoon dumpster on April 6 and materials were found outside a dumpster in northwest Regina two days later. Two other situations of improper destruction of health records in Regina since then, said Dickson.
“We’re just in the very early stage of the investigation … It’s a bit frustrating,” said Dickson, who also said the source of thousands of medical files found in a south-Regina dumpster on March 23 was identified.
“We’re getting to the final stages of our (March 23) investigation,” said Dickson. “We’ve gathered a lot of information. Hopefully we’ll have our final report issued within a matter of weeks.”
As for the four new cases, the records seized were “in the hundreds” and not of the magnitude of the March 23 find. Dickson credits media coverage for more people being aware of the problem with medical records being improperly disposed.
The new cases have prompted him to send out an advisory to Saskatchewan health-care providers.
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