A SHOPKEEPER bought a second-hand filing cabinet for £10 — and found it contained personal details and test results for 1,200 NHS patients.
Eric Cuerton, 54, got the 6ft metal cabinet from a scrap merchant to store fireworks for sale in his hardware shop.But when he cut open a locked drawer he discovered five books crammed with private information plus 14 computer discs.
They held names, addresses, and National Insurance numbers plus results from scans, X-rays, and genital swabs and blood, urine and pregnancy tests.
The files, dating from 1999 to 2006, also named patients with cancer and sexual diseases.
Dad-of-one Eric alerted police who told the NHS, which plans to investigate in Grimsby, Lincs.
The cabinet is believed to have been cleared from a GP's surgery refurbished for £2million last year. Eric said: "I was shocked. It's really private stuff. There's everything you need to defraud someone."
Patient John Ellis, 75, of Grimsby, whose records were among those found, said: "This should be kept under lock and key. I'm upset and shocked."
North East Lincolnshire Primary Care Trust said: "Plans are in place to collect the documents."
