The trust secretary of the Epsom and St Helier Hospital, has revealed the sites have no system in place tracking the amount of medical records being lost by staff.

When patient records are misfiled, people awaiting surgery or vital operations are left in the lurch, as it could mean their appointment is cancelled or delayed.

On May 28 The Epsom Guardian reported Rajesh Raghwani from Cheam Road, in East Ewell, had two operations cancelled because his notes were lost.

Mr Raghwani was due to have a wisdom tooth removed on March 21, but his appointment was rearranged to April 14 after the hospital mislaid his patient records.

His second appointment was then cancelled at the last-minute after his notes could still not be found.

The records provide healthcare professionals with a patient’s medical history, which helps them to decide the most appropriate type of care they should receive.

The Sutton Guardian submitted a Freedom of Information request to the Epsom and St Helier Hospital, asking how many patient records they have lost every month for the last four years.

Phil Ireland, the hospital’s trust secretary, told us the information could not be provided because no record is kept.

He also stated to get an idea of how many have been lost over the last four years, staff would have to trawl through 2.2million outpatient records.

In direct response to our request, he said: "We do not have a system which records the incidence of misfiling of medical records.

"Misfiling of medical notes usually occurs through human error. 

"The trust is concerned about the incidence of misfiling as it never wants to have to cancel a patient’s appointment for this reason.

"We are able to track all patient records as each set of notes has an individual electronic tag attached, which enables us to locate them throughout our hospital sites." 

Have your patient records ever been lost at the Epsom and St Helier Hospital? Call the news desk on 020 8772 6358 or email tom.gillespie@london.newsquest.co.uk.