An NHS trust has apologised to tiger attack victim William Chapman’s family after audits flagged two staff may have accessed or tried to access his medical information ‘without a legitimate reason’
An NHS trust has issued an apology to the family of the man killed by a tiger. This comes after it emerged two staff members may have accessed, or tried to access, his medical information “without a legitimate reason”.
William Chapman, 24, died at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster on October 10 after entering the Amur tiger enclosure and being fatally mauled by a 200kg male tiger named Altai, the Daily Star previously reported.
Now, Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS), says it has identified “two instances involving two members of staff” following his death. In response to a request from the Health Service Journal (HSJ), a YAS spokesperson said: “First and foremost, our thoughts are with William Chapman’s family at this distressing time.
“The Trust has identified an information governance concern in relation to this tragic incident at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, and William’s family has been informed of our ongoing investigation into this. We believe there may have been two instances involving two members of staff accessing or attempting to access incident/medical information following this incident without a legitimate reason to do so.”
The spokesperson added: “We take the confidentiality and security of patient information extremely seriously and have robust systems in place to protect information, and this concern has been identified as a result of our proactive audits.” The trust said it has launched an investigation to establish the “full circumstances surrounding these potential breaches and the actions of these individuals”.
It also confirmed the case has been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), and said it would keep Mr Chapman’s family updated as inquiries continue.
An inquest heard this week that Mr Chapman, who was under the care of Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber Trust (RDASH), had a history of mental illness.
His family have raised concerns about his contact with the trust, the BBC reported. Asked whether there had been any inappropriate access to Mr Chapman’s records, RDASH told HSJ it introduced tighter safeguards soon after his death, including “enhanced access controls around the patient’s records at an early-stage following his death”.
An RDASH spokesperson said: “A review of access activity has been undertaken by the Trust and, at this time, no evidence of unauthorised access to the records has been identified.
The Trust will continue to keep the position under review and would investigate any concerns raised in accordance with its policies and procedures.
“This monitoring is daily with Executive oversight.” The case comes amid mounting concern over improper viewing of patients’ records, with HSJ reporting it is “the latest incident in a growing scandal” that has already prompted NHS England to order staff under investigation to be suspended.
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