Patient records found in waste container during Pietarsaari relocation

Patient records from 166 clients and patients in the Ostrobothnia welfare region were improperly discarded in a regular waste container during a relocation at Pietarsaari’s Malmi hospital area in early July, the welfare region confirmed to Yle.

A data protection investigation revealed the records were not handled or stored according to protocol. Data protection officer Tuija Viitala stated the documents, which should have been placed in a designated secure disposal container, ended up in a general waste bin during the move.

Viitala called the breach extremely serious and announced reinforced training on data protection practices across all units, emphasizing that all staff must follow daily protocols for handling sensitive information.

An external individual discovered the records on the waste container on 9 July and reported the incident. The documents were removed the same evening. They had been in the container for approximately two weeks. There is currently no evidence the exposed data has been misused.

The records included partial patient information from the welfare region’s competence centre, which coordinates services for children and adults with severe functional impairments. The files contained individual visit notes or entries, not complete patient histories.

The Ostrobothnia welfare region will send letters this week to all affected individuals. Those who do not receive a letter within two weeks can assume their data was not compromised.