Patient left alone with confidential document raises privacy concerns

Sylvia Andrighettiwas alone in an examining room at the Hull Hospital in Gatineau, Que., last month when she saw something she shouldn't have.

"I was there in the examination room for 10 minutes doing nothingbut waiting,"Andrighetti said in a French-language interview withRadio-Canada.

"Then I looked and, not even three feet away from me, therewasa document showinga list of patients."

The sheet of papercontained a trove of confidential information: patients'names, ages, telephone numbers, health insurance numbers and appointment times.

Andrighetti said she was left alone with the document three or four times during that appointment and could have taken that information each time.

The incident, she said, has lefther concerned about how the hospital handles confidential information.

The region's health authority, theCentre intgr de sant et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais(CISSSO) did not agree to an interview with Radio-Canada.

Itsaid in a statement all doctors use these sorts of lists and they're sometimes left out if the doctor istemporarily away.

Patientsshould not look at the information, the health authority said.

Common incident, lawyer says

Incidents like these are quite common in the health care system, said health lawyer Jean-Pierre Mnard.

"Theydon't pay attention They don't look at who's going to have access to [these documents]," Mnard told Radio-Canada inFrench.

Information protection protocols in hospitals need to be better enforcedand breaches should be condemned, he said,adding that he's concerned about CISSSO's response.

The onus should be onhospital staff to ensure the patient information is kept confidential, Mnard said.

A hidden camera investigation by Radio-Canada in 2018 also revealed lax security at the hospital's hematology and biochemistry lab.