An investigation is underway after NHS ambulance staff accessed or attempted to access the medical records of the man mauled to death by a tiger at a Yorkshire zoo.
Yorkshire Ambulance Service Trust has said it has identified two instances of staff trying to view medical information about William Chapman, 24, who died on Saturday after jumping into a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.
Emergency services including paramedics and an air ambulance rushed to the scene at 1.35pm, but Mr Chapman was confirmed to have died.
Today, the trust said it had discovered an 'information governance concern' and launched a probe.
It said Mr Chapman's family has been informed, and the matter has been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office.
In a statement, a spokesman for the trust said: 'First and foremost, our thoughts are with William Chapman's family at this distressing time.
'The Trust has identified an information governance concern in relation to this tragic incident at Yorkshire Wildlife Park and William's family has been informed of our ongoing investigation into this.
'We believe there may have been two instances involving two members of staff accessing or attempting to access incident/medical information following this incident without a legitimate reason to do so.
William Chapman, 24, who had a history of mental illness, was mauled to death after entering the tiger pen at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday
Zookeepers were said to have done 'everything they could' to drive the tiger away from Mr Chapman, firing five loud gun blasts in an attempt to scare him
Altai, the 200kg Amur tiger which attacked Mr Chapman, is seen in his enclosure on Friday as the park reopened
'We take the confidentiality and security of patient information extremely seriously and have robust systems in place to protect information, and this concern has been identified as a result of our proactive audits.'
Mr Chapman was killed after climbing into the pen on Saturday afternoon, where he was attacked by one of the park's two rare Amur tigers, a 200kg-male named Altai.
The former child star, who was classed as vulnerable with a history of 'significant' mental health problems, was declared dead at the scene, with his family raising concerns over the treatment he had received prior to his death.
The park had remained closed since the incident but reopened to visitors on Friday morning.
In the minutes before the fatal attack, Mr Chapman had been dancing on a raised walkway above the tiger pen while listening to music in his AirPods, and asked a park visitor to take photos of him with Altai in the background.
Mr Chapman, who guests described as not seeming 'attached to reality', then climbed two fences to enter the enclosure, where he posted a final video to Instagram of himself approaching the tiger.
At an inquest opening on Thursday, it was heard that following a post-mortem, Mr Chapman's provisional cause of death was listed as 'multiple traumatic injuries' after his encounter with the tiger.
It heard that he had a history of mental illness, a diagnosis of schizophrenia and had suffered previous bouts of psychosis.
An air ambulance and police van arriving at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday afternoon
'His family have expressed a number of concerns in relation to his contact with mental health services leading up to his death,' coroner's officer Caitlin Brookes said.
At the time of his death, Mr Chapman was a self-employed online trader who was under the care of Doncaster Mental Health Services but was 'highly functioning and independent with no care requirements', the inquest heard.
Ms Brookes said the Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust had launched an investigation following Mr Chapman's death.
A spokesman told the Health Service Journal today that the trust had put in place 'enhanced access controls around the patient's records at an early stage following his death' and that no evidence any employee there had attempted to access his records.
The City of Doncaster Council, the licensing authority for the zoo, has launched a health and safety probe, while South Yorkshire Police also investigated the matter.
It is far from the first time NHS staff have been investigated for allegedly snooping on records without a legitimate purpose.
Just last month, ten staff members were removed from duty at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust after being suspected of accessing the records of Noah Woods.
Noah, three, was found dead in a lake by police divers on September 16 after he disappeared in the village of Brantham, Suffolk, the day before.
The trust launched an urgent investigation and deputy chief medical officer Dr Martin Mansfield apologised 'unreservedly' to Noah's family, labelling the unauthorised access 'completely unacceptable'.
And more than 50 members of NHS staff have been sanctioned over accessing records of the victims in the Southport and Nottingham attacks.