Gold Coast Health Data Breach (2016)

Gold Coast Health is retraining staff on how to handle patient records after a local truckie's surgical report and personal information was found in the street. The blunder, which prompted truck driver Martin James to lodge a complaint with Gold Coast Health's privacy officer, has resulted in fallout for a hospital registrar and university student intern. Mr James, 41, laid the complaint late last month after a stranger rang him to say he had found his Gold Coast University Hospital surgical record on nearby Napper Road. None of Mr James' personal information, including address, phone number and date of birth, were blanked out. In a statement to the Gold Coast Bulletin yesterday, Gold Coast Health admitted to a series of errors resulting in the privacy breach and "apologised unreservedly" for any distress to Mr James. It is unclear exactly how the notes ended up in the street but Mr James' records were discovered in a clear folder alongside the assessment forms of a medical student on an internship.