To feel quite anxious about this? Data Protection Issue

[LetThereBeCupcakes]

I think I've left it to late to do anything about this, so just after some reassurance that I'm not being overly paranoid!

I'm expecting DC1 any day now. A few weeks ago, I went for a routine midwife appointment. Midwife had trouble hearing the heartbeat well enough to get a baseline rate, so asked me to go back to the waiting room so she could sort out getting me strapped up to the monitor thing (CTG?). DH and I did so, and a few minutes later a different midwife called for "the woman who needs a CTG". I stood up and she apologised for not knowing my name, but asked if I had been reffered by X midwife. I said yes, that was right, and gave her my name.

I had the CTG - all fine, and she took my notes away to update. It took her a while, and when she finally came back we thanked her and left.

The following week I had another appointment, and I was browsing through my notes whilst we waited when I came across the print out from the CTG. I'd not looked at it before, and all of the details related to another woman. I had somebody elses name, address, DOB, NHS number etc all printed out and stuck in my notes. At the time I was a bit shocked, but raised it with the midwife, who apologies, ripped them out and replaced them with my own notes.

I didn't really think about it much more at the time, but it's been playing on my mind. How do I know that my details haven't been sent home with somebody else? There was enough information to apply for credit cards, loans etc I would have thought, if I was that way inclined. It annoys me that I'm so careful with personal data (shred everything etc) and a slip like this could cause me a lot of trouble. I realise I probably should have raised the issue at the time if I had wanted to, but I'm now wondering if I should get more clarification on procedures etc at the hospital, so something similar doesn't happen again.

Or am I just being crazy paranoid?

You can't no for certain that this hasn't happened to your details however even in the unlikely event that they are this sloppy with everyone's details it is very unlikely that anyone would act on this mistake to defraud you. Please don't worry about this unnecessarily.
You can complain to PALS though and ask them to check that this has been reported to the information governance manager. It's important that they know where they are failing to mantain confidentiality so they can fix it in future.

As gamerwidow says - don't worry unnecessarily but do report it rather than leave it with the offending detail just having been removed as it may not have been flagged as a serious issue which it is!

As much as it shouldn't, things like this do happen, it's only human error and perfectly understandable. However it does need reporting. The midwife concerned should have reported it officially to her NHS employer and you should have received some formal correspondence from them reassuring you, the other woman concerned should have received the same. This obviously hasn't happened which means you need to report it. It is VERY important that you do so. Not because there's maybe someone applying for a loan in your name right now or selling your identity on ebay, but because if these things aren't reported the faults in the system that happened in the first place won't change.

If you're not sure who to contact, call the hospital you are booked for (and where i assume your midwife is employed) and ask to speak to PALS (patient advice and liaison service), they will listen to your concerns and help you address the issue in a more formal way. Their contact details may also be on your hospital website.