Health chiefs have launched a probe after a Tayside cancer patient was sent home from hospital with confidential records belonging to somebody else.
James Shaw (59) from Montrose branded NHS Tayside “scandalous,” after his 62-year-old fiancee was dropped off at home in an ambulance with the wrong documentation.
The embarrassing bungle followed a trip to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee, which former plumber Mr Shaw said his partner likens to a “cattle market”.
“She won’t go in there unless she absolutely has to she is terrified to go in,” he said.
NHS Tayside confirmed an investigation has been launched into the incident and issued an apology to all patients concerned.
Mr Shaw said he was shocked to open an envelope he found in his fiancee’s bag when he called at her house.
He said: “When I came back to her flat on Thursday I asked what the big envelope was. To me it was obviously an x-ray envelope.
“It was marked highly confidential and when I opened it and looked at the first page I realised they were not her records. They belonged to another woman in Montrose. I could easily have looked into them.”
Mr Shaw, who is a member of Angus Citizen’s Panel, called Ninewells to query the mix-up and claims the operator was unhelpful.
He said he then contacted a health worker at Stracathro Hospital, near Brechin, who referred the matter on to a senior manager.
A spokeswoman for NHS Tayside said a probe into how the envelope had been given to the wrong patient was now under way.
She added: “We take patient confidentiality and the safeguarding of patient information very seriously, and have launched an investigation into this incident.
“We would wish to offer our sincere apologies to the individuals involved and our assurances that actions are being taken to minimise the risk of this happening again.”
Mr Shaw is to raise the issue with Angus North and Mearns MSP Nigel Don. His fiancee, whom he declined to name, has been receiving treatment for cancer at Ninewells and Stracathro for the last 18 months.
Mr Don said: “I find this very disturbing; it is essential that patients have confidence in the way in which private information is stored and handled.
“I trust that this breach of confidence will be thoroughly investigated so that this kind of mistake is not repeated.”