Privacy breach involving dozens of vulnerable children | Stuff.co.nz
Privacy breach involving dozens of vulnerable children
Hamish McNeilly
18:00, Jul 20 2023
The main entrance to Dunedin Hospital.
ROBYN EDIE
The main entrance to Dunedin Hospital.
An email containing the names of vulnerable children was mistakenly sent to other parents and guardians, prompting an apology from Te Whatu Ora Southern.
Dozens of parents and guardians received the email on Tuesday from the Vera Haywood Centre, a child development team based at Dunedin Hospital.
That email invited recipients to a paediatric seminar, but was intended as an internal email for staff only.
However, that email was forwarded to a parents’ email group, and the sender sent it via CC, rather than BCC.
‘’This resulted in all email recipients being able to see the names of other tamariki who attended Vera Haywood and their contact work emails,’’ a follow-up email, entitled ‘Email sent in error to you’, said.
Once that mistake was realised, staff tried to recall the message – which was sent externally from Te Whatu Ora Southern – and ‘’was not successful’’.
‘’We deeply regret this moment of inattention and apologise to you all for any distress this incident has caused.’’
‘”We strive to uphold high standards of privacy for our patients, and this incident is not in keeping with our values.’’
The centre had already changed email records so they were not saved under a child’s name, while additional privacy training would also occur.
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Approached for comment, Hamish Brown, Te Whatu Ora Hospital and Specialist Services interim lead, said in a statement to Stuff that: ‘’We take this matter seriously and are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our whānau’’.
‘’To prevent such incidents in the future, we are working with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to review and improve our external email sending processes.
‘’We will also conduct additional privacy training for our staff to enhance awareness and ensure compliance.’’
Parents and whānau affected by the privacy breach could contact [email protected], or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at [email protected] or 0800 803 909.
Hamish McNeilly
18:00, Jul 20 2023
The main entrance to Dunedin Hospital.
ROBYN EDIE
The main entrance to Dunedin Hospital.
An email containing the names of vulnerable children was mistakenly sent to other parents and guardians, prompting an apology from Te Whatu Ora Southern.
Dozens of parents and guardians received the email on Tuesday from the Vera Haywood Centre, a child development team based at Dunedin Hospital.
That email invited recipients to a paediatric seminar, but was intended as an internal email for staff only.
However, that email was forwarded to a parents’ email group, and the sender sent it via CC, rather than BCC.
‘’This resulted in all email recipients being able to see the names of other tamariki who attended Vera Haywood and their contact work emails,’’ a follow-up email, entitled ‘Email sent in error to you’, said.
Once that mistake was realised, staff tried to recall the message – which was sent externally from Te Whatu Ora Southern – and ‘’was not successful’’.
‘’We deeply regret this moment of inattention and apologise to you all for any distress this incident has caused.’’
‘”We strive to uphold high standards of privacy for our patients, and this incident is not in keeping with our values.’’
The centre had already changed email records so they were not saved under a child’s name, while additional privacy training would also occur.
The mish logo
Get the must-read news from Hamish
McNeilly in Dunedin, straight to your inbox
Subscribe for FREE
the mish artwork
Approached for comment, Hamish Brown, Te Whatu Ora Hospital and Specialist Services interim lead, said in a statement to Stuff that: ‘’We take this matter seriously and are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our whānau’’.
‘’To prevent such incidents in the future, we are working with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to review and improve our external email sending processes.
‘’We will also conduct additional privacy training for our staff to enhance awareness and ensure compliance.’’
Parents and whānau affected by the privacy breach could contact [email protected], or the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at [email protected] or 0800 803 909.
