Massive NHS data breach. Are you affected?
According to damming new research by a leading think tank, the NHS saw nearly 10,000 documents either stolen or missing last year. The massive data breach affects 68 hospitals.
According to the findings:
- University Hospital Birmingham was the worst affected with 3,179 missing documents
- Bolton NHS Trust suffered a significant data breach with 2,163 documents lost
- University Hospital Bristol also lost 1,105 records
- Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust revealed that 425 of its records had been lost or stolen.
The information was collated via a Freedom of Information request pertaining to lost and/or stolen patient records. You can read the report in full here.
Reasons for the data breaches are said to include outdated and insecure methods of documentation, and cheap vulnerable means of recording. For example, 94% of NHS Trusts still use handwritten notes for patient record keeping and encrypted platforms are not thought to be widely used.
In June this year, we revealed that 150,000 patients have had their confidential data used without consent in another major NHS data breach. In this case, confidential personal data, given on the basis that it was to be used to provide medical care, was exploited for clinical audit and research purposes by the NHS, without the consent of patients. We have also looked at how healthcare accounts for nearly half of all data breaches.
In addition to human error the health service remains a top target for hackers. For example, one of the largest and most infamous cyberattacks on the NHS was the WannaCry attack in 2017.
So, with identity fraud and sales of patient records on the dark web on the rise, it is vital that the NHS does more to protect our sensitive information.
Have you been affected by the latest NHS data breach?
If you have suffered damage or distress caused by a medical or other healthcare organisation breaching any part of the Data Protection Act, you have a right to claim compensation.
At Hayes Connor Solicitors, we've been helping people to do just that for over 50 years, so we know what it takes to make a successful medical data breach compensation claim.
With strict-time limits in place for making most compensation claims, if you want to achieve maximum recompense in the minimum amount of time, it's essential to act now.