‘A criminal could have got my information’ – Wick man’s fear over possible medical data breach
A Wick man is concerned that details of his medication could have been shared with another person after a doctor phoned the wrong patient.
Wayne Alexander Harper (47), from West Banks Terrace in Wick, says that a GP from the town’s Three Harbours medical practice called back another patient by mistake on August 29.
The practice has admitted the error but insists that no medical information was shared with the third party.
“I have several health issues, including arthritis and anxiety, and had gone to the doctor about my blood results and my medication review,” said Mr Harper.
“I was sitting waiting for this callback all day so I phoned in and they said I’d spoken to the doctor this morning. I said, ‘No, I never’ and then they told me line for line what I said to the doctor. I thought there’s something not adding up about what they’re telling me.”
Mr Harper said he spoke to the manager at Three Harbours who read out a transcript of the call. “She told me that the man had said he wasn’t expecting any doctor’s calls or blood test results.
“The person called by the doctor said, ‘You’re giving information that isn’t mine’. They continued to tell him my blood test results and medications under review,” he claimed.
Mr Harper says he was told by the practice that the doctor had “definitely” called the number they had on record for him and when they read it out he confirmed it was his number. “I’ve never had a problem with any of them and they were all apologetic. They read out the transcript from the computer which had all the stuff that was discussed.”
Mr Harper says he gets regular blood tests undertaken for his arthritis medication and there was no previous problem with getting told the results over the phone. “Since this happened they said I can’t get my results over the phone and I have to come in.”
Mr Harper shared phone data clearly showing that he expected to receive a call on August 29 from a doctor connected to the practice in Wick. He also shared records of numbers he received on the day with no reference to a number connected to Three Harbours.
“The practice manager called me back and said there had been a crackly line on the day the mistake was made. The doctor had spoken to the [wrong] guy about the four of five medications I had up for review and the blood results.”
Mr Harper says the blood test results being shared do not matter as much as information on his various medications. “If that becomes common knowledge, people could try and steal them. My family know but that’s all. People in this town know I have mental health issues but they don’t know the treatment I’m getting and medications I’m on.”
He added: “Who was that guy they called? They could know all about the medications I’m on.”
The Three Harbours Medical Group, which runs the Wick practice, said: “We are very sorry that the wrong patient was called.
“After speaking to the staff involved we are confident that no medical information has been shared but we will learn from this and put in measures to ensure this does not happen again. We will be contacting the patient directly to apologise.”
