Medical history shared in meeting. Is this a data breach?

BillieBoy

Thanks in advance for your help.

My husband is a sole trader providing services to a local council. Sadly, he is terminally ill and instead of being shown sympathy the Council hauled him in to a meeting and demanded to know how his company could continue to provide services whilst he was either ill or dead. He said that I would run the company and they said that they would only accept this if it was in writing from a Solicitor that I could continue should he die. They gave him 1 week or they were serving notice. Not possible past Probate so I suggested a limited company with both of us as Directors.

it took 4 weeks for the meeting ‘minutes’ to come out however they were just a list of action points with no context.

What I did note, however, was the person who drew up the letter and subsequently sent it out wasn’t in the meeting. In the meeting my husband talked in detail about his medical condition and was asked about upcoming criminal hearings (he was suffering from hepatic Encepalopathy). The people in the meeting were not from the legal and compliance team, one was from contracts but the others were team leads from the team that he provides resources to. He did not give permission for his medical history to be shared with anyone outside of that room.

Neither he nor I know where they are storing this highly private medical data and details of upcoming court appearances with details of offences, are they allowed to pass that on to an administrator who wasn’t in the meeting and whom he didn’t give permission for that data to be shared with?

DullGreyGuy

Why do you think medical history has been shared? Presumably someone in the meeting took the relevant notes/actions and just handed it to someone to type up 

BillieBoy

Thanks for replying. The notes were typed up by someone in the team who we know and interact with on a regular basis. She is part of the team who allocate work to us. My husband would not have given permission for her to know about his medical condition or court cases.

Mr.Generous

I'd check your working for the council business contract, I suspect that unless the council are very stupid the contract would allow employees of the council to see details about a contractor. Otherwise it woul be difficult to pay you for example.

BillieBoy

Mr.Generous said:

I'd check your working for the council business contract, I suspect that unless the council are very stupid the contract would allow employees of the council to see details about a contractor. Otherwise it woul be difficult to pay you for example.

Thank you. It sounds like in future my husband should limit who he speaks with or refuse to give details. Sadly they were going to give him 28 days notice unless he provided details so he had no choice. Now at least one person, plus the meeting attendees, in the office knows very personal details about him and it’s disturbing. Particularly given the circumstances of his particular illness. 

DullGreyGuy

BillieBoy said:

Thanks for replying. The notes were typed up by someone in the team who we know and interact with on a regular basis. She is part of the team who allocate work to us. My husband would not have given permission for her to know about his medical condition or court cases.

Ok, we have to assume that either the actions and/or letter make direct reference to the condition and/or court case? If they dont then there is no evidence that they know anything. 

The council is an organisation which is represented by its employees and contractors. He wasn't telling the people in the room about the situation but the organisation. Certainly medical conditions are considered sensitive personal information so it certainly doesn't mean its ok for them to stick it on the company's intranet site but it will be appropriate for some others to know about it, such as the admin person that types up letters/actions from meetings. It's the same when I see my consultant, I tell her about my medical condition but it's her secretary that isn't in the exam room that types up the letter for her. 

If you've evidence it's been shared you are free to make a complaint but it doesn't sound particularly inappropriate from what you've stated to date. 

BillieBoy

DullGreyGuy said:

BillieBoy said:

Thanks for replying. The notes were typed up by someone in the team who we know and interact with on a regular basis. She is part of the team who allocate work to us. My husband would not have given permission for her to know about his medical condition or court cases.

Ok, we have to assume that either the actions and/or letter make direct reference to the condition and/or court case? If they dont then there is no evidence that they know anything. 

The council is an organisation which is represented by its employees and contractors. He wasn't telling the people in the room about the situation but the organisation. Certainly medical conditions are considered sensitive personal information so it certainly doesn't mean its ok for them to stick it on the company's intranet site but it will be appropriate for some others to know about it, such as the admin person that types up letters/actions from meetings. It's the same when I see my consultant, I tell her about my medical condition but it's her secretary that isn't in the exam room that types up the letter for her. 

If you've evidence it's been shared you are free to make a complaint but it doesn't sound particularly inappropriate from what you've stated to date. 

Thank you. The letter did reference the specific medical details and treatments along with the list of offences. Pleased to hear that it’s not considered inappropriate.

BikingBud

BillieBoy said:

Thanks in advance for your help.

My husband is a sole trader providing services to a local council. Sadly, he is terminally ill and instead of being shown sympathy the Council hauled him in to a meeting and demanded to know how his company could continue to provide services whilst he was either ill or dead. He said that I would run the company and they said that they would only accept this if it was in writing from a Solicitor that I could continue should he die. They gave him 1 week or they were serving notice. Not possible past Probate so I suggested a limited company with both of us as Directors.

it took 4 weeks for the meeting ‘minutes’ to come out however they were just a list of action points with no context.

What I did note, however, was the person who drew up the letter and subsequently sent it out wasn’t in the meeting. In the meeting my husband talked in detail about his medical condition and was asked about upcoming criminal hearings (he was suffering from hepatic Encepalopathy). The people in the meeting were not from the legal and compliance team, one was from contracts but the others were team leads from the team that he provides resources to. He did not give permission for his medical history to be shared with anyone outside of that room.

Neither he nor I know where they are storing this highly private medical data and details of upcoming court appearances with details of offences, are they allowed to pass that on to an administrator who wasn’t in the meeting and whom he didn’t give permission for that data to be shared with?

Are the court appearances for offences alleged to have been committed by your husband? From your other post:

He is currently awaiting trial for 12 charges which I won’t name for fear of prejudicing them.

How were the council notified of the allegations?

Is there a requirement, within the contract, to disclose investigations and summonses? 

Do the offences, if found guilty, affect his ability to deliver the contracted service?

Was the meeting called to discuss the alleged offences or the health issues?

Or some other matter?

Of what relevance is the medical condition to the court appearances or is it just coincidental, ie occurring or coming to light at the same time?

Or is it considered to be a causal factor, and potentially mitigation raised by your husband, in the alleged crimes?

I feel there is too little clear information.

Although, given the information provided in this thread, there appears to be a potential conflation of 2 issues. From the presentation of the issues within the structure of the letter it should be clear if they are being dealt with as separate issues or the discussion of one issue lead to disclosure of other problems and the council have recorded all the discussion to protect their position.

Which would seem entirely appropriate.

All in it seems you are having a tough time at the moment and I understand the overall pressure may make it difficult to see things clearly but to protect your position and future you might wish to try and distinguish the different events and place a level of separation between yourself and your husband's activities. See if you can build a relationship with the council and move forward:

Once his court cases are heard it’s very unlikely that his main client will allow him to continue as a supplier so I am hoping to pick up his clients as I have been managing them.

Best of luck.