Julie Robotham reports:
A $40,000 damages order for misusing a mentally ill patient’s medical records has sent a strong privacy warning to hospitals.
The compensation, awarded to a man who was a patient of the same public hospital where he worked [the former Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service], is the maximum allowable in the circumstances.
The amount recognised the serious suffering of the man, who had been driven to attempt suicide by his 18-month suspension from the hospital he attended in 2008 for treatment of his bipolar disorder, an Administrative Decisions Tribunal judgment said.
Read more in the Sydney Morning Herald.