Luke Byrne reports that Dr. Ogbonna Anoke, a physician who worked at Cavan-Monaghan Hospital between January and September 2010 as a non-consultant hospital doctor, has been found guilty by the Irish Medical Council on charges of serious professional misconduct. The charges were lodged after sensitive medical records were found dumped near his former home:
He was guilty of taking sensitive clinical material from the hospital to his home, failing to dispose of the material adequately and leaving the material at the premises after moving house.
The council heard how the records were discovered by Sandra Macliammoir on August 7, 2010.
Ms Macliammoir, chairwoman of the local residents’ committee, noticed up to 12 black bags containing official looking documents on waste ground near Station Lane, Swellan, Co Cavan.
The waste ground was adjacent to Dr Anoke’s home and the bags contained general waste including bills, an agency invoice and a plane ticket in his name.
The hospital was forced to contact 32 patients to inform them of the serious data security breach.
Read more on Independent.ie. No decision has yet been made as to the consequences for the physician.
The Irish Times provides some additional details as to what was in the files, which reportedly included names, dates of birth, radiology reports, treatment details, and surgery waiting lists. The files may have been abandoned in June 2010 when Dr. Anoke moved out of his home.