Confidential records of 37 Derriford Hospital patients found discarded in charity clothing bank

Patients from Derriford Hospital in Plymouth have been left "shocked" after more than thirty sets of confidential records were found discarded in a charity clothing bank in Cornwall.

The documents contained individuals name, NHS number, hospital number and details of hospital appointments.

One of those patients was Vanessa Small - she received a letter from Derriford Hospital informing her that her personal records had been discarded by a former member of staff.

She suffers from chronic fatigue syndrome and had been visiting Derriford for cardiology appointments.

She says she's had no information as to how her information ended up in the clothing bank in Cornwall.

Her son says it's been a stressful time for his mum.

A full investigation is now being carried out and the staff member who discarded the information is no longer employed by the Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, which managed Derriford Hospital.

The Trust said full sets of medical records were not released and the nature of the information disclosed was "limited".

"Notwithstanding this, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust takes patient confidentiality very seriously.

"In cases where there is a breach of any personal identifiable data we write an apology letter to the person whose confidentiality may have been breached. This is important because we are committed to promoting a culture of openness with patients when things go wrong and of learning lessons from those incidents."

All the affected patients have been contacted.