Report details private health records misplaced in public places

A new report reveals Victoria's Health Services Commissioner (HSC) uncovered incidents of private health records being left in public places.

The office of Victoria's HSC operates a telephone service to receive complaints from patients.

For the past financial year, about a quarter of the complaints related to access to health records and privacy.

The HSC's annual report states that in one case, a member of the public found a list of in-patients of a public hospital ward, containing information on patients' conditions and treatments.

In another case, the office received a complaint about a doctor who closed his practice and threw out medical records, including patients' addresses, in a public bin.

The report says steps were taken in both cases to make sure medical records were not misplaced in the future.