John Fawkner Private Hospital Data Breach (2017)

A hospital is being investigated for breaching the privacy of dozens of patients after medical records revealing a "swollen penis" and mental illnesses among other things, were found in a Coburg street. The documents included queries about whether a patient should be resuscitated if they have a cardiac arrest, and notes about a "swollen penis", depression, weight loss surgery, breast reduction surgery, dementia and incontinence. The five pages of hand-over notes included the patients' names, ages, diagnoses, treatment plans, medications, how many days they'd been in hospital and whether they lived alone. Fairfax Media has seen the records with the names blacked out after a resident who lives near the hospital sent them to to Victoria's Health Complaints Commissioner and the the Privacy Commissioner, both of whom investigate privacy breaches. The documents found in a gutter near the Healthscope hospital also revealed patients' diagnoses such as prostate cancer, opioid addiction and Parkinson's Disease.