A few weeks ago whistle blowers raised allegations of New Zealanders’ completed census forms being photocopied without the persons’ knowledge. More details about this later.
Meanwhile the Princess of Wales underwent planned abdominal surgery at the London Clinic, a large, independent private hospital in the UK. The hospital has over 1,000 nurses, capacity to treat approximately 155 different conditions and, according to their website, says they “specialise in the care and treatment of complex medical conditions such as cancer, woman’s health, urology and orthopaedics, all in a high-quality private setting”.
The London Clinic, known for treating members of the Royal family and other high-profile people, earlier this year launched an investigation into a potential violation of the hospital’s privacy law and it was alleged that up to three members of staff viewed the princess’s private medical records. The alleged breach was revealed to have taken place after the princess was discharged on 29 January 24. In response to these explosive claims that a staff member may have tried to access the medical records, Simon Lewis, who was made Queen Elizabeth’s first press secretary in 1998, said ‘privacy should be sacrosanct’.
In a statement posted on The London Clinic’s website on 20 March 2024, Al Russell, the CEO said that the hospital will investigate and discipline anyone caught breaching privacy law.
The CEO of the London Clinic has vowed ‘all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken’ as it investigates the data breach claims.
Its chief executive, Al Russell, finally broke his silence this afternoon, saying in a statement: ‘Everyone at the London Clinic is acutely aware of our individual, professional, ethical and legal duties with regards to patient confidentiality.
‘We take enormous pride in the outstanding care and discretion we aim to deliver for all our patients that put their trust in us every day.
‘We have systems in place to monitor management of patient information and, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken.
‘There is no place at our hospital for those who intentionally breach the trust of any of our patients or colleagues.’
It can be a criminal offense for any health professional to view private medical records without permission or consent. Several people in the UK have been prosecuted in other cases. There are no reports of what happened with the claims of staff wrongfully accessing the Princess’s medical records.
But the matter raises serious concerns here and there. What does the NZ Privacy Act 2020 say about personal data?
The NZ Justice Department says, “The collection, use and sharing of personal information in New Zealand is governed by the Privacy Act 2020, which came into force on 1 December 2020. The Act largely reinstates the Privacy Act 1993, while strengthening privacy protections.” See here.
For example, a privacy breach occurs when an organisation or individual who holds personal information either intentionally or accidentally:
• Provides unauthorised or accidental access to personal information.
• Discloses, alters, loses, or destroys personal information.
• Prevents someone from accessing their personal information, for example, where it is encrypted by ransomware.
Brian Tamaki received this leaked copy of the process steps given for each home visit. The former employees report private information on the census forms was accessed and photocopied. There are now public allegations that census data was misused and messages were sent out to private individuals for political gain for the Maori Party.
Whether trust and confidentiality in the Census process was breached is under investigation. Whether hundreds of Kiwis’ private information was in fact misused is unproven. However, neither a member of the Royal Family nor a Kiwi going about their normal lives should have to be concerned there may be prying eyes reading their confidential information. Or worse, be alarmed that it is being shared with others and finding out it was misused for another’s gain.
Privacy should be ‘sacrosanct’.
