Woman told she had cancer by data-breaching hospital worker - BBC News
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Data-breach NHS worker told woman she had cancer
Pippa Boardman was told she had lost her dignity and privacy through the data breach at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. She did not receive an apology from the hospital until it was contacted by the BBC.
By Jen Smith
South West health correspondent
Published 1 hour ago
A woman was told she had cancer by a hospital employee who accessed her record days before she was due to receive test results from her consultant.
Pippa Boardman, from Lostwithiel in Cornwall, said she had lost her dignity and privacy through the data breach.
Pippa Boardman said she received a phone call at home from a man she vaguely knew who worked at the hospital.
This man said to me, 'Pippa, I don't want you to worry, but you've got cancer'," she recalled.
Two days later, Boardman was told by her consultant she did have breast cancer.
Nine months on, she said her strong recovery did not undo the damage done by the experience.
Along with Boardman's case, there have also been other recent NHS data breaches. Health Secretary Yvette Cooper described them as a disgrace.
Boardman said the Royal Cornwall Hospital's handling of the case was a further source of distress.
She said the trust told her the breacher's rights meant it could not give her information, and it only apologised after being contacted by the BBC.
She wanted to prevent others going through a similar experience.
"I'm in a very good place in terms of my cancer. I'm just in an awful place in terms of what happened and how it happened," she said.
The Royal Cornwall Hospital Trust said it was "truly sorry" about how Boardman was contacted and that it had reminded staff records "must only ever be accessed for a legitimate work-related reason."