NHS staff investigated over alleged access to tiger victim's medical records
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust is investigating two staff members over alleged access to the medical records of William Chapman, 23, who was killed by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. The potential breach has been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.
The trust said there may have been two instances involving two members of staff accessing or attempting to access incident or medical information following the attack without a legitimate reason. It said the concern was identified through proactive audits and had been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office. Chapman's family has been informed of the investigation.
The potential breach relates to emergency calls on Saturday, when Chapman climbed into the tiger enclosure at the park. He was mauled by a 200kg male Siberian tiger named Altai. Park staff secured the tiger, and Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedics attended and confirmed Chapman's death at the scene.
The park reopened on Friday after being closed since the attack. An inquest opening at Doncaster coroner's court on Thursday heard that Chapman had schizophrenia and had experienced bouts of psychosis but was described as highly functioning and independent with no care requirements. His family, who did not attend the hearing, expressed concerns about his contact with mental health services before his death.
Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust has launched an investigation into its contact with him. The inquest heard that Chapman was a self-employed online trader living in Doncaster at the time of his death. An initial postmortem found he died from multiple traumatic injuries.
Coroner's officer Caitlin Brookes said: "He was approached by the tiger and the ensuing physical contact between the tiger and Mr Chapman led to him sustaining multiple traumatic injuries which rapidly led to his death." Senior coroner Nicola Mundy said her office was awaiting a more substantial report on the extent of Chapman's injuries ahead of a full inquest on 18 March.
The trust said: "We take the confidentiality and security of patient information extremely seriously and have robust systems in place to protect information, and this concern has been identified as a result of our proactive audits." It added: "We believe there may have been two instances involving two members of staff accessing or attempting to access incident/medical information following this incident without a legitimate reason to do so."
Ahead of reopening on Friday, Yorkshire Wildlife Park said safety was its "highest priority" and thanked members of the public who had sent "messages of support and love for our team at this time." Wildlife and zoo experts told the Guardian it was unlikely the wildlife park could have done anything to prevent the death.
Editor's Summary Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust is investigating two staff members over alleged unauthorized access to the medical records of William Chapman, who was killed by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. The potential breach has been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office, while separate investigations examine Chapman's contact with mental health services. A full inquest is due on 18 March.