Hospital medic lost boxes of private patient data while conducting study without approval - Liverpool Echo
Hospital medic lost boxes of private patient data while conducting study without approval
Miguel Martin Garcia had been carrying out a study without permission and using NHS appointments to do so
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Liverpool Women's Hospital
Miguel Martin Garcia, a physiotherapist at Liverpool Women's Hospital, lost boxes of private data (Image: Liverpool Echo)
A senior medic has been suspended after running a clinical trial using sensitive medical information without permission of his hospital.
Miguel Martin Garcia, a band 8 physiotherapist at Liverpool Women's Hospital, used patient consent forms headed with the trust's branding and carted off boxes of patient records to a private practice.
His decision to avoid the process of obtaining research approval, a process which would have taken three to four months, blew up in his face when he reported his own research data missing.
Mr Garcia also used NHS follow up appointments to take readings for his study, designed to monitor the effects of Tecartherapy - involving the use of a medical device to heat up tissue beneath the skin.
However no-one at the hospital had approved the study or given the green light for Mr Garcia to take patient records off site.
Mr Garcia was caught out after scoring an "own goal" in the words of senior hospital managers, and reporting that two boxes of research data had gone missing.
On November 9, 2018, Mr Garcia recorded an entry on a hospital risk management system, called Ulysses, reporting that sensitive data had been lost.
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Liverpool Women's Hospital's head of information governance, Russell Cowell, told the panel he received an alert about the entry and went to speak to Mr Garcia, who told him "research information" was missing.
Mr Cowell asked if Mr Garcia had approval for the research, who assured him he did.
The panel stated: "RC (Mr Cowell) stated that following the conversation he remembered feeling that something was not quite right and that he had the impression that the Registrant was not being truthful."
Mr Cowell told the panel the missing information was a serious issue, describing it as "two box folders containing a significant amount of patient information from a gynaecological hospital".
He also told the panel how reporting the missing information exposed Mr Garcia's breaches of the rules - describing it as a "surprising" and an "own goal".
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An investigation revealed Mr Garcia had signed up patients without the trust's approval or knowledge.
The case was referred to the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS), which regulates health workers other than doctors, midwives and nurses.
A disciplinary panel found that Mr Garcia had not sought regulatory approval for the study and had breached patient confidentiality - although it noted that no harm had come to any patients.
A ruling from the panel stated: "The Panel was satisfied that these were extremely serious breaches of the Trust’s patient confidentiality and data protection procedures.
"The Panel was satisfied that as a senior practitioner, the Registrant would have been fully aware of the need to obtain informed consent from the patients for their data to be used and that he would have also been aware that it was crucial to obtain a data sharing or transfer agreement.
"Again, in the Panel’s view, the Registrant ignored these requirements.
Miguel Martin Garcia had been carrying out a study without permission and using NHS appointments to do so
liverpoolecho
SHARE
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Enter your postcode for local news and info
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Liverpool Women's Hospital
Miguel Martin Garcia, a physiotherapist at Liverpool Women's Hospital, lost boxes of private data (Image: Liverpool Echo)
A senior medic has been suspended after running a clinical trial using sensitive medical information without permission of his hospital.
Miguel Martin Garcia, a band 8 physiotherapist at Liverpool Women's Hospital, used patient consent forms headed with the trust's branding and carted off boxes of patient records to a private practice.
His decision to avoid the process of obtaining research approval, a process which would have taken three to four months, blew up in his face when he reported his own research data missing.
Mr Garcia also used NHS follow up appointments to take readings for his study, designed to monitor the effects of Tecartherapy - involving the use of a medical device to heat up tissue beneath the skin.
However no-one at the hospital had approved the study or given the green light for Mr Garcia to take patient records off site.
Mr Garcia was caught out after scoring an "own goal" in the words of senior hospital managers, and reporting that two boxes of research data had gone missing.
On November 9, 2018, Mr Garcia recorded an entry on a hospital risk management system, called Ulysses, reporting that sensitive data had been lost.
Get a Liverpool Echo newsletter today
The Liverpool Echo sends newsletters on a wide range of topics - including our daily news bulletin, now going out three times a day.
There are others on what's on, politics, court news, Knowsley, Wirral, and arts & culture, as well as both Liverpool FC and Everton FC.
Signing up is free and it only takes a minute for you to get the biggest stories, sent straight to your inbox.
How to sign up for an Echo Email Update
1) Go to our dedicated newsletter page at this link.
2) Put your email in the box where indicated
3) Tick as many boxes as you like, for each newsletter you want.
4) Press Save changes and that's it!
Liverpool Women's Hospital's head of information governance, Russell Cowell, told the panel he received an alert about the entry and went to speak to Mr Garcia, who told him "research information" was missing.
Mr Cowell asked if Mr Garcia had approval for the research, who assured him he did.
The panel stated: "RC (Mr Cowell) stated that following the conversation he remembered feeling that something was not quite right and that he had the impression that the Registrant was not being truthful."
Mr Cowell told the panel the missing information was a serious issue, describing it as "two box folders containing a significant amount of patient information from a gynaecological hospital".
He also told the panel how reporting the missing information exposed Mr Garcia's breaches of the rules - describing it as a "surprising" and an "own goal".
Join the Liverpool ECHO Investigations Facebook community
We have launched a new Facebook group where you can get all the latest hard-hitting, informative public interest journalism from the ECHO's team of award-winning reporters.
Join discussions about ongoing stories and investigations, share ideas and let us know what you feel we should be covering more.
To join the group click here.
You can also follow Public Interest Reporter Jonathan Humphries here.
An investigation revealed Mr Garcia had signed up patients without the trust's approval or knowledge.
The case was referred to the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS), which regulates health workers other than doctors, midwives and nurses.
A disciplinary panel found that Mr Garcia had not sought regulatory approval for the study and had breached patient confidentiality - although it noted that no harm had come to any patients.
A ruling from the panel stated: "The Panel was satisfied that these were extremely serious breaches of the Trust’s patient confidentiality and data protection procedures.
"The Panel was satisfied that as a senior practitioner, the Registrant would have been fully aware of the need to obtain informed consent from the patients for their data to be used and that he would have also been aware that it was crucial to obtain a data sharing or transfer agreement.
"Again, in the Panel’s view, the Registrant ignored these requirements.
