A grieving husband who asked to see medical records relating to his wife’s death was shocked to find another patient’s details in the file.

Ian Bugden, 51, from Chatham, had been married to Pauline for nearly 29 years, so when she died at Medway Maritime Hospital, aged 49, he wanted to know all the details surrounding her death.

He applied to see the files and had a meeting with hospital staff to outline the exact documents he needed.

When the bundle of papers arrived in the post, he was appalled to find another patient’s confidential details among them.

The extra document referred to a Medway woman and included her name, details of her illness, her date of birth and her signature.

Mr Bugden, said: “These records are supposed to be protected, they are supposed to be kept safe.”

A spokesman for Medway NHS Foundation Trust said an investigation had been opened into the incident and steps will be taken to avoid it happening again.

Mr Bugden said: “We had to wait such a long time before we got what we wanted from the hospital. When we finally got the documents I couldn’t believe they had sent someone else’s personal information.”

The incident has been added misery for Mr Bugden who has suffered with depression since the death of his wife.

The couple first met when he was a volunteer for Medway Hospital Radio and she was a patient. Mr Bugden proposed within 24 hours. Family and friends feared they were rushing into marriage, but the devoted couple proved them wrong.

They had six children and 10 grandchildren and were only days away from their 29th wedding anniversary when she died.

A spokesman for Medway NHS Foundation Trust said: “We take issues such as data protection and patient confidentiality very seriously. We therefore regret that following Mr Bugden’s request for his late wife’s medical records, among them was a page from another patient’s record. We are investigating how this error occurred to ensure it does not happen again.”