A HOSPITAL computer packed with confidential patient records was found for sale on a market stall.

Bargain hunter Neil Ashurst paid £5 for the Compaq computer but was horrified when he got it home.

Intimate details of medical complaints, together with the names and addresses of patients from Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary, appeared on screen when he switched it on.

Neil, 31, of Ashington, Northumberland, said: "One of the letters was from one doctor to another and it was about an old man who just lives around the corner from me.

"I was absolutely stunned at what I was seeing. They were all confidential records.

"I was angry because my stepson Robert has cerebral palsy and we take him there. I would be disgusted if someone got hold of his details on a computer."

Patients were furious yesterday when told of the incident. A 55-year-old man, about to be examined for liver and kidney problems, said: "It sounds to me as though there has been an almighty cock-up.

"Confidential patient records should never end up in the public domain. I would hate to think mine would ever be seen by a stranger."

And a 49-year-old woman visiting the hospital said: "They should look at their security to make sure this never happens again.

"A person's medical details should never leak out for any reason. It is quite disconcerting."

An investigation is under way to see how the computer came to be on the stall in Ashington.

Police are investigating to see whether it was stolen from the hospital at an earlier date.

Neil said yesterday: "I got my eye on the computer. It had a screen, a hard drive and keyboard and was at a reasonable price so I bought it.

"When I got round to setting it up, I switched it on and it asked for a password. I ignored that, pressed cancel, went into one of the applications and up came lists of names and addresses.

"There were details of transplants and patients and their discharge dates. I was astounded."

A spokeswoman for Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the RVI, said: "We are not in a position to comment until we have had a look at the data on the machine, which we hope to do on Monday."