Falkland Islands Government claimed a public apology was made to hundreds of “data breach” victims but wasn’t recorded in the official Assembly transcripts.
On Tuesday FIG released a statement addressing changes made in data handling and confidentiality at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.
The update follows two major data breaches which resulted in hundreds of confidential patient records being read by people without authorisation to do so and resulted in two high-profile court cases; one in 2021 and one in 2023.
No public apology has been made on the breaches until this year.
However, Tuesday’s statement claimed a public apology was given in 2023 and says:
“Last year MLA John Birmingham, the Portfolio Holder for Health and Social Services, made a public apology to those affected. However, we understand not all individuals in the community were aware of this apology. MLA John Birmingham has therefore repeated this public apology in a recent meeting of the Legislative Assembly.
The KEMH also wish to reiterate this apology and say we are very sorry to all those in the community who were impacted.”
Falklands Radio asked FIG where and when this apology has been made and was told:
“MLA John Birmingham addressed the data breach at LegCo on 26/10/2023, however the apology did not make it to the detailed public record.
As it was not in the public record he repeated it at LegCo again more recently.”
LegCo refers to the Legislative Assembly.
FIG was informed by Falklands Radio that no apology could be found in the audio recording from 26 October 2023 and asked FIG to provide more detail. The response:
Please find the link to the Legislative Assembly Record from 26th October. On page 20 you will see an update given by MLA Birmingham on the Data Breaches. There is no record of the apology given by MLA Birmingham in these notes.
8. Legislative Assembly Record 26 October 2023.pdf (fig.gov.fk)
On page 24 of the link below you can see that it is recorded that MLA Birmingham issues a full apology.
5. Legislative Assembly Record 05 June 2024 BUDGET.pdf (fig.gov.fk)
FIG was further informed that Falklands Radio records all sittings of the Legislative Assembly and provides Gilbert House with the audio files which are used to transcribe the official records, which FIG linked above.
FIG was also informed that Falklands Radio archives these audio files and no apology can be found in the recording in question.
FIG did not respond to Falklands Radio yesterday but released a statement this morning saying:
“Upon review, we acknowledge that no public apology was in fact made at that time.”
FIG says it regrets the error and any misunderstanding and distress this may have caused, and “takes full responsibility for the miscommunication.”
MLA John Birmingham personally apologised as well:
I would like to personally address the public regarding an error in a recent communication about the data breach. In our initial statement, it was wrongly conveyed by me that a public apology had been issued last year. This was not the case, and for that, I deeply apologise. All within FIG recognise the importance of accurate communication, especially in sensitive matters such as data breaches that affect the public’s trust, confidence and privacy.
I sincerely apologise to those impacted by the data breach and for any confusion and distress caused by our previous statement.
We appreciate your understanding and continued patience as we work to make things right.”
