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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
To enhance the awareness among public hospital staff in protection of personal data of patients, the Hospital Authority and the Office of Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) jointly launch the "Care for Patients - Protect their Personal Data" campaign today (May 7).
This is the first time the authority and PCPD have jointly promoted patient data privacy. Through a series of training seminars on the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, supplemented by interactive games and exhibitions, the campaign aims to instill and strengthen the culture of privacy awareness in the daily routine of hospital staff with particular attention to preventing the loss and possible leakage of patients' personal data.
Furthermore, the Office of PCPD has also designed an on-line self-learning programme to facilitate the training of healthcare workers on the protection of personal data. In the coming few months, 40 training seminars will be organised at various public hospitals. Today's seminar was attended by about 400 hospital staff.
Officiating at the launching ceremony were Hospital Authority Chief Executive, Mr Shane Solomon, and the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Mr Roderick Woo.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Solomon said, "We are committed to protecting the confidentiality of our patients' personal data since it is an important aspect of high-quality patient care. Protection of patient data is part of our duty. All of us in the authority need to work together and strengthen our culture of privacy awareness."
Also addressing at the ceremony, Mr Woo said, "Patients' right to privacy is absolutely essential in the health-care context. From the privacy protection perspective, data protection practices should be designed and adhered to so as to ensure that patients' privacy and dignity are protected. I am glad to take a first and significant joint initiative with the Hospital Authority in mounting this campaign to enhance the protection of patients' data. I am confident that together the Hospital Authority and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data can create a culture of protection of personal privacy."
The campaign is an integral part of the overall improvement plan of the authority to enhance the protection of patient data and privacy. Since last year, a series of recommendations of the Task Force on Patient Data Security and Privacy have been implemented to enhance the monitoring and protection on the use of patient data. At the same time, hospital staff are also required to seek Hospital Chief Executive's approval when there is a practical need to use an electronic storage device. The authority's policies and guidelines on protection of patients privacy are circulated to all hospital staff via intranet and internal circulars. Disciplinary action will also be taken according to established human resources policy on staff members who were confirmed for loss of patient data.
Ends/Thursday, May 7, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:16
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