An Oamaru man who has had visits to three hospitals where there was confusion over his identification suggests people should regularly check their health information.
Prompted by a recent article on health information in the Otago Daily Times, engineer Graeme Simpson (44) recounted his experiences.
The first arose in 2002 when he cut his hand while living in Dunedin and had to visit the emergency department. When he arrived and gave his name and birth date, no National Health Index number came up on the hospital computer.
He found this surprising, given that he had quite a large hospital file relating to a previously-corrected heart condition. He was allocated a temporary number.
Following it up later, he discovered his NHI details had been allocated to someone else, another Graeme Simpson, who was only 12 days younger than him and who had once lived at Avon St in Island Bay, Wellington. Oamaru's Mr Simpson had once lived at the same number in
the Avon Street in Oamaru.
He thought everything was sorted out, but was surprised three years ago to be asked by Oamaru Hospital to attend an outpatient clinic for a check-up following an operation. He had not had an operation, but when he inquired, he discovered the name and NHI number were correct,
but the birth date showed he had aged by 30 years and was now 71.
He joked that the operation must have been for plastic surgery. The error was traced back to laboratory test results matched to the wrong identity.
Again, he thought the problem had been solved, but in September 2005 he was involved in a car crash near Rangiora. Arriving at Christchurch Hospital, concussed but conscious, he gave his name and address and the nurse taking his details read out an NHI number.
He knew it was incorrect because he has memorised his number (all numbers begin with three letters followed by four numbers).
Since that time he has carried in his wallet the wrist band he was issued with displaying the correct NHI number.
Mr Simpson said his experiences highlighted the need for medical staff to be pedantic about checking details when people made hospital visits.
He suggested people should also check their own details regularly.
New Zealand Health Information Service chief adviser health information strategy and policy Brendan Kelly said Mr Simpson had been unlucky and what had happened to him would be a rare occurrence.
He pointed out that the NHI number was not a means of recording clinical information, so the likelihood of someone receiving incorrect treatment because the number was wrong was very low.
The medical warnings system, which tells clinicians about risks in treating patients for
conditions such as allergies, is accessed through the NHI number, but he understood medical staff were rigorous about ensuring such information matched up with patients, particularly when the patient might be unconscious and unable to verify the situation. The general culture
in emergency situations was extreme caution.
Mr Kelly agreed with Mr Simpson that people should be more knowledgeable about their health information and the Health Information Strategy Committee was looking at ways to encourage this.
Federation of Women's Health Council co-convener and long-time campaigner for consumer health rights Barbara Robson said Mr Simpson's experiences showed human error could occur at all levels of the health system and the NHI was not foolproof.
She supported the need for increased awareness, pointing out that if people did not know they had an NHI number they could not check information held against it.
There was also a risk that a patient seeking treatment might not be believed if they suggested details recorded in the system were incorrect
