Limerick Hospital Data Breach

Limerick Hospital is writing to over 600 patients in a major data breach. The incident occurred when a non-HSE employee leaked the personal information of the patients, which included information pertaining to 95 children.

It is alleged that the person involved leaked the information over Twitter. The patient data, including the patients’ name, date of birth, as well as medicines dispensed, was extracted from a computer system relating to patients who attended at the Emergency Department at UHL last April. The data leak relates to patients who attended the Emergency Department at UHL between April 18th and April 22nd last,” said a UHL spokesman.

The information was access without knowledge or approval from the HSE. And was taken from as automated system that is used at the Dooradoyle emergency department to dispense medication safely.

Immediate actions were taken by the HSE and by UL Hospitals Group to protect patient data. The incident was reported to the gardai and the Data Protection Commissioner, and involved a High Court injunction to stop the individual from publishing this private information any further.  Twitter blocked the link to the data and disabled the account in question,” the spokesman explained.

If you have received a letter in relation to the incident, and have concerns – don’t delay, please call us now on +353 1 264 5555 or complete our Online Enquiry and we’ll be delighted to help you.