Privacy breach results in elderly man being wrongly told he had cancer

A man was wrongly told he had cancer by an agency which had received his hospital records. Stock Photo / 123RF

The first a man heard that he had cancer was through a third-party agency that had received his hospital records.

Except they were wrong. He didn't have cancer, but as a consequence of the information sent to him, he spent a considerable amount of time deeply concerned he was ill.

The mistake was revealed after the man's distressed whānau investigated and discovered a hospital had incorrectly recorded he had a history of cancer.

The incorrect information was subsequently released to another agency, which later used it in a report sent to the man.

He worried that he had cancer, and no one had told him.

The elderly man's daughter, who laid a formal complaint over the privacy breach, described the anxiety caused to her father and whānau and how the consequences had "a long tail".

She said her father continued to worry that he had cancer and the whānau had kept this from him.

The hospital has apologised and has since conducted a review to help ensure a similar mistake does not happen again.

In a complaint to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, the woman said her father had suffered ongoing emotional damage caused by the error including how the mana and tapu of her father and whānau had been hurt.

She requested a hui hohou i te rongo (reconciliatory meeting) to help her father and the whānau restore their mana.

She also sought an independent investigation plus compensation.

In a decision released this week, the Privacy Commissioner said that because the hospital had accepted it had breached the man's privacy, the commissioner's office wanted to explore a settlement without investigation by facilitating a hui at the whānau's request.

Where the facts of a complaint are not disputed but the parties have been unable to reach a settlement themselves, the Privacy Commissioner can explore a settlement without investigation.

The hui aimed at restoring the man and his whānau's mana had now happened, which the Privacy Commissioner said was the first of its kind held by the office.

It began with a mihi whakatau and incorporated karakia and waiata. The whānau also brought a manea stone to support kai kōrero and kai manaaki while people spoke.

At the hui, a hospital representative acknowledged the mistake and the difficulties caused for the man and his whānau.