*********************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The spokesperson of Kowloon East Cluster (KEC) made the following announcement today (April 18) regarding the investigation outcome and follow up of the loss of a USB flash drive containing patient data by an eye doctor of United Christian Hospital (UCH) earlier:
An eye doctor of UCH noticed on March 20 that her personal USB flash drive was found missing. The device has contained some work related files and the personal data of 47 patients, including their names, ID numbers, sex, age and operation records. The incident was reported to the police and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data.
The subsequent investigation of the hospital indicated that the staff concerned has not complied with the data security guidelines of the hospital. The hospital has issued a written warning to the doctor in accordance with the prevailing human resources policy of Hospital Authority. Besides, the hospital has designed a training course for the staff, including refreshment training on the data security guidelines, enrolling in related e-learning course. She is also required to complete all the training under close supervision of the Cluster Service Director (Quality & Safety) within three months.
At the same time, KEC has conducted a comprehensive review on the training and protocol of the data security guidelines. The monitoring of staff using removable electronic storage devices will also be enhanced.
KEC expresses deep regret and concern about the incident. We would like to apologise once more to all concerned patients.
Ends/Saturday, April 18, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:34
NNNN
