A patient who heckled Humza Yousaf in Dundee feels like NHS Tayside is treating her like a “troublemaker” after logging the confrontation in her patient records.
Glenrothes grandmother Theresa Mallett only made the discovery after the health board had to apologise for leaking data linked to disgraced neurosurgeon Sam Eljamel.
More than 130 patients were hit by the breach when a spreadsheet containing personal details was mistakenly sent to Professor Stephen Wigmore, who is chairing a clinical review into the scandal.
Theresa was shocked to see a section of her notes held by Tayside which read: “Confronted first minister at an SNP conference held in Dundee on 24/6/23.”
The Fife gran is one of hundreds who were harmed by rogue Eljamel after the former Ninewells surgeon operated on her in 2012.
The lifelong independence supporter heckled Mr Yousaf in front of SNP supporters at Caird Hall in the push for a public inquiry.
But Theresa says she never discussed the incident with NHS Tayside and sees no reason why it should be included in her records.
“I was shocked,” she said.
“It was the last thing I would have ever expected. I don’t know why it was mentioned.
“It feels like, ‘oh, look at this troublemaker’.
“Why would they include that other than to mark me out from the rest of the patients?”
Mr Yousaf stopped his speech during the Dundee SNP conference and spoke to Theresa.
She told the then first minister how she lives in constant pain due to her botched treatment.
He later visited the Eljamel patient at her home in Glenrothes.
Theresa quit the SNP over the party’s initial refusal to grant a public inquiry, which was later granted.
Her stunt in Dundee gained national attention, including from Harry Potter author JK Rowling.
Theresa is particularly disturbed that she only discovered the incident had been logged by NHS Tayside due to the data leak.
“I didn’t know they had any record of that,” she said.
“If I hadn’t had a data breach, I’d never had found out about it.
“I will be making a complaint.
“That’s my personal life. It’s not information I gave them.”
UK data protection laws have highly specific rules for holding “special categories” of data.
This includes “political opinions” as well as any philosophical beliefs.
Exemptions which can apply to NHS boards include for public interest reasons or for healthcare purposes.
Kinross campaigner Jules Rose, who is also a victim of Eljamel, questioned why the incident had been logged by NHS Tayside.
She said: “Holding such information on Theresa is rather sinister.
“We get the feeling we are being watched rather than supported. It erodes trust even further.”
A spokesperson for NHS Tayside said: “Ms Mallett has been in contact with the Patient Liaison Response team regarding her personal information which was shared in error in the recent data breach.
“NHS Tayside apologises again for the release of the information contained in a spreadsheet.
“If Ms Mallett would like to discuss her individual case in more detail, the team would be happy to do so and encourage her to get in touch.”
Conversation