NHS Admits Personal Data Loss
December 24th 2007
Hundreds of thousands of NHS patient records have been mislaid by nine English trusts. The breach of confidentiality emerged during a government-wide data security review, and was made public by the government yesterday (December 23).
A CD with the names and addresses of 160,000 children was lost by the City and Hackney trust in east London, and records of 244 cancer patients were mislaid by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Health Trust in Kent.
The department of health say affected patients have been told there is no evidence the information has fallen into the wrong hands. In a statement, they say: "Since the recent heightened concern about data protection a small number of trusts have reported breaches of their own security rules. There are strict guidelines and procedures for dealing with such breaches.
"Investigations are under way in all the trusts involved and action will be taken against anyone who has failed to fulfil their legal responsibilities."
Other trusts involved are reported to be Bolton Royal Hospital, Sutton and Merton, Sefton, Mid-Essex, Norfolk and Norwich, and Gloucester Partnership Foundation Trust.
Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo told Sky News: "It’s not good but we are taking steps as quickly as we can. Of the hundreds and hundreds of trusts, nine have reported this issue and have taken steps, and were taking steps, to make sure the data is retrieved and continues to be secure."
Conservative health spokesman Andrew Lansley commented: "This is further evidence of the government’s failure to protect the personal information which we provide."
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