The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesperson for Hong Kong West Cluster (HKWC) made the following announcement today (April 15) regarding the suspected theft case of hospital documents:
 
     On April 9, HKWC was informed that a former Patient Care Assistant, who previously worked in Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) and left in 2018, claimed to have taken hospital documents as well as some medical supplies without prior permission. The materials were returned to QMH on April 9 and 14. It was found that the documents contained names, identity card numbers, genders, and some clinical information of around 370 patients. The cluster management has reported the incident to the Police and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data. It was also reported to the Hospital Authority (HA) Head Office through the Advance Incidents Reporting System.
 
     The cluster is highly concerned about the incident. HKWC will notify the patients concerned. Neither clinical services nor treatment for the patients have been affected in the incident. The department involved will review the workflow of printing and the destruction of documents. HKWC will also strengthen staff education on data privacy protection to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

Ends/Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Issued at HKT 19:51

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