By Nigel Maxwell

Privacy concerns raised over doctor’s Nipawin library book

Dec 19, 2017 | 8:17 PM

A Nipawin physician has been told to review privacy protocols, after leaving important medical records inside a library book she returned to the public library.

According to a report from the office of Saskatchewan’s privacy commissioner, dated Nov. 1, Dr. Ayodeji Lawani returned the book to the Nipawin public library in June.  The records containing personal health information were tucked inside the pages of the book. Soon after the book was returned, the now former Kelsey Trail Health Region was contacted, who in turn contacted the privacy commissioner’s office.

Tony Murphy, the Regional Director/CEO for the Wapiti Regional Library, said the situation was assessed and reviewed.

“We really decided the librarian had done the smartest thing which was to take that material from our agency, which has pretty rigorous privacy controls within it as a regional library system, and to return it to the agency that houses and transmits that information out to the patients,” he said

According to the privacy report, the situation was handled properly by the library and the responsibility for the incident fell on the doctor who returned the library book.

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“In this case the librarian handled it very well and kept the length of time this material was sort of out there in the public realm as short as possible by getting it back,” Murphy said.

Murphy who has worked in numerous book stores and libraries throughout his career, said incidents like this are rare but not unheard of.

“You find letters, photos and money periodically, one wishes there was more of that but the odd time you get something like this,” he said.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority was contacted by northeastNOW for comment. The health authority issued this statement, outlining what steps had been taken in response to the incident:

“The physician has taken responsibility for the privacy breach. She has notified and sent an apology to all of the patients impacted by the breach. In consultation with the Office of the Saskatchewan Information and Privacy Commissioner, the physician is taking the necessary precautions to ensure an incident like this does not occur again, including educating herself on privacy protection. A local committee that includes representation from physicians, nurses and IT has been struck to review and develop effective processes to ensure that physicians are receiving only the information that is necessary for billing purposes.”

Lawani is a surgical assistant at the Nipawin Hospital. According to the report from the office of the privacy commissioner, she received a copy of the records containing patient personal health information so she could bill the Ministry of Health for her services.

northeastNOW did attempt to contact Lawani for comment, but was declined an interview.

nigel.maxwell@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell