WENDY Maree Gunning attended Canberra Hospital on March 14 for a heartbreaking miscarriage, but rather than receiving care and compassion, she says she was left further traumatised.

“I received what I thought was my clinical diagnosis and discharge paperwork, but it was addressed to ‘Baby Gunning’, which was a punch to the gut,” says Wendy Maree, 31, of Kambah.

“I opened it up. ‘Baby Gunning’ is on the first page, and it says one of five pages, but half way through I came to another person’s clinical notes.

“So I stopped. I rang the number at the bottom of the letter and I spoke to Canberra Health Services, and the operator basically explained it was a misprint and it shouldn’t have happened, and she apologised.”

Wendy Maree, a foster care case worker and mother of three, says she tried to be understanding, and asked for the rest of her notes to be corrected and sent to her doctor.

“But then I got a call from my doctor saying they had received my own, and someone else’s, clinical notes,” she says.

“I was so frustrated. I gave them time to rectify it, but they still didn’t proofread it or check back over it and they sent it incorrectly, again.”

On March 20, Wendy Maree posted on Facebook, reaching out to anyone who had received her clinical information.

She then received a voice message from Canberra Health Services, requesting she take the social-media post down and asking her to return the call to a private number. Wendy Maree took down the post.

“The staff member stated that it was a mishap with the software, and that they’re dealing with it. She apologised, and that’s it basically,” says Wendy Maree.

“I explained to her that I don’t think she actually understands that I still didn’t have all my clinical records.

“I said they’re somewhere else, because you’ve now sent two copies of what I have in the mail, which is half mine and half another person’s diagnosis.”

The staff member told her they were going to investigate and it wasn’t a big deal, says Wendy Maree, “they said no one would have my details”.

“I think that’s wrong in terms that if I’ve received someone else’s, they’ve definitely received mine. That’s kind of how the process works,” says Wendy Maree.

“This other man’s papers that I received were printed at 11.11am, mine were printed at 11.17am. They’ve clearly just gathered it together and sent it off.”

Wendy Maree says she didn’t initially want to do anything, but their lack of empathy left her frustrated.

“It’s as if nothing has happened, but I’m nervous because it has my address on it, and I have this other man’s address, and I have his very personal diagnosis and information, as he would have mine,” she says.

“I contacted his surgery to let them know I had received their patient’s details and I sent them on to them, but then they went on to tell me that they actually had received mine as well.

“Canberra Health Services has the nerve to tell me mine hadn’t been spread anywhere.”

Wendy Maree says it cant’t be the first time Canberra Health Services has mixed up personal documents, with her Facebook post receiving “many, many similar stories, even from seven years ago”.

“It’s just really deep and personal, and I’m really concerned,” she says.

“Addressing my letter to my miscarriage is horrible, atrocious, that’s why I’m speaking out. If I don’t, Canberra Health Services will just cover it up, and they’ve already started trying.

“Getting me to take my Facebook post down, reaching out on personal, private phone numbers. Their website says when you file a complaint it could take up to 35 days to get a response, and yet I received four calls in 24 hours.”

A Canberra Health Services spokesperson says: “We have conducted an initial investigation into this incident and it appears to be an unfortunate administrative error during the discharge process.

“We are confident this was an isolated incident and will update internal procedures to ensure this does not occur again.

“We have reached out directly to the patient and unreservedly apologised for any distress caused as a result of this matter.”

Wendy Maree rejects the apology saying she felt they were ingenuine and were just trying to cover their own backs. 

“I was passed off as if it was nothing. I caught them in so many lies,” she says.