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Another NHS trust found to be in breach of the Data Protection Act following the loss of over 100 patient records
From: security curmudgeon <jericho () attrition org>
Date: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:12:53 -0500 (CDT)
http://www.scmagazineuk.com/another-nhs-trust-found-to-be-in-breach-of-the-data-protection-act-following-the-loss-of-over-100-patient-records/article/177390/ Dan Raywood August 24, 2010 Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust has been found to be in breach of the Data Protection Act by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after the loss of over 100 patient records. A CD, which contained scans of 112 patient records from the Intensive Care Unit of New Cross Hospital's Heart and Lung Unit, was discovered at a bus stop near the hospital and was unencrypted with no password protection. Investigations by the Trust and the ICO were unable to ascertain exactly why or how the CD was ever made, although it was established that there were areas of weakness in the Trust's data protection procedures. This included a lack of timeliness in recalling patients' charts that had been released to consultants. Mick Gorrill, head of enforcement at the ICO, said: .The fact that this information was several years old is of no consequence . patients' personal data should always be handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act. I am pleased that the Trust has agreed to take remedial steps to ensure such an incident does not happen again.. The Trust has agreed to sign a formal undertaking outlining that it will now process personal information in line with the act. The Trust will implement a number of security measures to protect personal information more effectively. These include ensuring that patient charts released to consultants are signed for on receipt and chased for return after just one week. Compliance with the Trust's policies on data protection and records management will also be regularly monitored. [..] _______________________________________________ Dataloss Mailing List (dataloss () datalossdb org) Archived at http://seclists.org/dataloss/ Get business, compliance, IT and security staff on the same page with CREDANT Technologies: The Shortcut Guide to Understanding Data Protection from Four Critical Perspectives. The eBook begins with considerations important to executives and business leaders. http://www.credant.com/campaigns/ebook-chpt-one-web.php
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