A woman was informed she had cancer by a hospital employee who improperly accessed her medical records just days before she was set to receive test results from her consultant. Pippa Boardman, from Lostwithiel in Cornwall, expressed that she lost her dignity and privacy due to this data breach at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro.
Incident Details
Boardman revealed that her personal information was accessed by a man she knew only vaguely, who worked at the hospital. She recounted the moment:
“"I got a phone call at home from somebody I know through the sport that I play. This man said to me: ‘Pippa, I don’t want you to worry, but you’ve got cancer.’ I just couldn’t really believe it."
Two days later, Boardman received confirmation from her consultant that she indeed had breast cancer. Although she is recovering well, she stated that the handling of her case by the Royal Cornwall Hospital has intensified her trauma. Boardman noted that the hospital trust only issued an apology after being contacted by reporters from the BBC.
