Yorkshire Ambulance Service probes TWO staff members who accessed tiger victim William Chapman's medical records without authorisation
William Chapman, the former child actor killed by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, whose family said he had suffered 'significant mental illness over a number of years' and had been prescribed 'strong medication.'
Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust has opened a formal investigation after finding two separate instances in which staff accessed or attempted to access William Chapman's medical records without authorisation. The trust has reported the potential breaches to the Information Commissioner's Office and informed Chapman's family, who are already seeking answers about his mental health care in the period leading up to his death. Chapman, 24, was killed by Altai, a 200kg Siberian tiger, after he scaled two fences into the enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster on 10 October.
The trust says its own proactive auditing systems, rather than an external whistleblower, uncovered the breach.
Chapman had been diagnosed with schizophrenia; a separate inquiry is also under way into his contact with mental health services in the lead-up to his death.
His inquest, opened at Doncaster Coroner's Court, recorded a provisional cause of death as 'multiple traumatic injuries and animal interaction' and was adjourned until March.
