Tag Archives: Confidentiality

This morning.

A disclosure to RTÉ Investigates by a whistleblower who works at the Department of Health claims the department is secretly using information from private doctor consultations to build and maintain dossiers on children with autism who were involved in legal actions against the State.

Via RTÉ News:

The dossiers, which include the sensitive medical and educational information of children involved in long-dormant court cases, were built and maintained over a number of years by the Department of Health without the knowledge or consent of parents.

The work was done with the cooperation of the Health Service Executive and the Department of Education, and involves detailed information sourced directly from confidential consultations that the children and their families had with doctors and other professionals.

Meanwhile…

These updates record issues related to children named in the court proceedings, as well as their parents and siblings. They also record details such as marital breakdowns among parents and addictions in the home.

The information was shared and gathered with the goal of aiding the Department of Health with a background legal strategy, such as in determining when it would be a good time to approach parents to settle or withdraw their case.

Department of Health built secret dossiers on children with autism (RTÉ)