Camera with pre & post op pics stolen from MYA

Hello ladies,

I received a weird letter today from MYA and just wondered if anyone had had the same letter, its basically telling me that a camera had been stolen which may have contained pictures of my breasts. The letter is dated 13/04/2012 (no idea how they managed that as its only 12/04/2012) The letter says-

"We write to inform you that the MYA camera was stolen from the manchester clinic. We informed the police at the time of the incident and CCTV footage was reviewed. Although we hope the SIM card of the camera was empty we cannot be 100% sure and are therefore writing out of courtesy to inform you that your pictures may have been on this card. Our labelling process of pictures mean that they cannot be easily identified and include only first initial and last name and the type of photo taken- pre or post operative.

Nursing staff have been instructed to lock the camera away between each patient as this occurred during clinic hours when the nurse had momentarily left the clinical room.

Police investigations continue into this case and we have not been informed of them finding the suspect or the missing camera.

In line with our registration requirements we have informed the care quality commission of this incident and the police investigation.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Manchester clinic.
Yours Sincerely,
Manchester Clinic Manager"

Surely they must have an idea of which patients pictures were on the camera? Really not comfortable with the thought of my pictures being out there whether they are "easily identifiable" or not. I personally would have thought that sensitive info such as pictures and medical information should always be locked away when medical staff aren't in the room or else anyone could wonder in and have a nosey. What do you think? Has anyone else had one of these letters?
Thanks
Emma xx

I didn't have surgery with MYA so no letter for me babe, just wanted to say I can totally understand your distress, I think I'd feel the same

Have you called the clinic to find out if this is for real? Is it possible it could be someones idea of a practical joke do you think? (There are some sick people about)

I'm thinking back to when I had my pics done at Transform and I recall the camera being in the cupboard, taken from there for pics, having a chat and then being led to the desk so I can see how easily something like that might get stolen....

It's an awful thing for someone to have done, but I hope you may at least get some comfort from whoever might have the camera not having your full details and the pics are usually headless as well so chances are you'd never be recognised by your initial and surname alone.

Hope you're OK sweetheart. xxxxxx

Ive got copies of my pre op pics babe and my head isnt on any of them! I did go with transform but i imagine it may b th same...
Hope ur okay xxx

Pretty certain this would be a breach of the Data Protection Act, any personal information on you should be stored away when not in use to prevent something such as this!

Try not to worry though, I doubt you would be easy to identify with just your initials x

I think your right girls, and the pics will probably just be my chest so not identifiable as such.

I completely agree Alice, this must be some infringement of data protection regs. I'll give them a call tomorrow and find out exactly what's happened.

Emma xx

Hi ejones, that's insane. But don't worry about being identifyable because when they take such pictures, they never show the face. And there must be hundreds if boob pictures so, unless you have a tattoo that one can recognize, you have nothing to worry about. The clinic should offer "free surgery to whoever returns the camera" ;)

oooh no ... I did wonder when I first read this that its someones idea of a practical joke ... do your friends know about your ba - they might not realise how much this would freak you out? I think if you ring MYA to confirm letter is genuine its a good idea.

If it did turn out to be true then I agree with the other ladies that its unlikely anyone would recognise you. And chances are, again if it is true, that the git that stole the camera was only interested in the value of that and what they could sell it for. They most likely dump the memory cards.

x

I contacted Mya over the phone today and it's a genuine letter :-( The girl I spoke to was very sheepish and refused to discuss it and said she'd get her manager to call me. Think something is a miss here. Those photos form part of our medical records and they should be kept securely and deleted off memory cards, I had my BA nearly 9 months ago so shouldn't be still on a camera surely
Emma xx

hmmm ... that is a bit odd I agree. When is the manager going to call you?

oh dear! i agree tho that the pics would be unidentifiable to you and they were after camera value, not the pics.

this has made me think bout my PS and the pics he took of me half hour b4 surgery - on his mobile phone! so the hossi wont even have a record of ANY pics being taken (i didnt have any pre op app for pics thats why he took them just b4 op) and he took pics again on his moby at my dressing clinic a week post op.

I think security with pics needs to be stepped up in all areas. private or nhs.

do u know if theres anything about confidentiality of pics in your contract or any paperwork you have. that maybe why they being cagey, cos they should have had them locked away securely?

That's really not good!! As others have said tho, you won't be identifiable from the pictures.. My PS was very careful when taking mine, to the point that he asked me to turn my necklace (just a small crystal star) around to my back so that it wasn't in the photo

Mx

I have done a bit of research and any medical photos should be stored securely, just the same as medical records. They can't just be left unattended, according to data protection act etc they must be locked away. I called the clinic this morning and the manager still hasn't contacted me, I'd expect they'd be straight on the phone to explain :-/
Emma xx

They are liable for any medical data they have stored on you. Shame you've already had your BA you could have tried getting money off of your op for them being so incompetent X

When I had my pictures taken (the hospital group) my surgeon took the pictures and he always showed me the pictures after to prove that it was just the chest area he was taking pics of. It was always kept in his briefcase that he had with him, so presumably MYA were slightly naive to keep an item (what they know to have personal things on there, whether they are identifiable or not) left at some bodies reach. They must know what day this was taken and what room it was in, so therefore the footage they have been looking at couldn't have been that hard to identify who could have taken it.

I wouldn't worry yourself too much over it as it is luckily only going to be pictures of the chest with none of your obvious details on there, although I know its uncomfortable thinking someone has those pictures, I don't believe they would be able to do much with them.

Maybe ring them to find out exactly what the situation is, and more so to make sure it is actually true.

Maybe it was dated Friday 13th to make it appear extra unfortunate?

It does seem very strange that they would keep pictures on the memory card for so long, although like Kat said, anyone who has stolen the card is likely to delete the contents. Who steals a camera anyway? It's not likely to have been anything expensive. Scallys.

Its a shame that they're being a bit cagey with you. By sending this letter they should expect to have to address such concerns. I'm sure the pics won't include your head or anything identifiable but completely understand your worries. Keep us updated with any news x

Hi Emma

I also had this letter and had my BA 7 months ago! I had a bad experience with MYA Manchester from start to finish!! Like you, I rang the office manager but she didn't call back. They are useless at that clinic!

It is very worrying as they should be stored safely as though medical records.

Did you hear back from them at all?

x

That's really bad... If that happened to me I would go mental,coz with my initials and last name I'd easily be identified coz me and my family are the only ones that have this surname ( double barrelled, both parents last names)Plus I've got tattoos. Its quite worrying tbh, they may end up all over the Internet some weirdos out there.
Surely they know if the card was empty or full, they must have some rules and regs regarding saving or deleting pics or how long pics are kept for etc....
I doubt they will get back to you quickly just think how many other women in your shoes that are calling them regarding this.
The thief obviously works there, chance it would be a patient is unlikely, like others have said they must have some idea of who had access to the room etc On the day it went missing. I wonder how soon they would get back to you if you was to say something like " I will assume that if I don't hear back from you within the next 48 hours blah blah blah that you agree that the sun newspaper would find this incident rather interesting. "

I would be getting legal advice on this hun, as under the data protection act you could get a lot of compensation for them losing your personal pictures.