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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/publicsector/0,3800010403,39169733,00.htm

Thousands more UK patients' details lost
…data just dropped in the street

By Nick Heath

Published: Friday 18 January 2008

The security of information held by the NHS suffered a further blow after the loss of another 4,000 medical and personal details has come to light.

Stockport Primary Care Trust (PCT) admitted it had not informed the thousands affected after it lost their names, dates of birth and details of medical conditions in December.

The details, which also included their NHS number and details of their GPs, was on a USB drive that was dropped by an employee.

Security from A to Z

Click on the links below to find out more...

A is for Antivirus
B is for Botnets
C is for CMA
D is for DDoS
E is for Extradition
F is for Federated identity
G is for Google
H is for Hackers
I is for IM
J is for Jaschan (Sven)
K is for Kids
L is for Love Bug
M is for Microsoft
N is for Neologisms
O is for Orange
P is for Passwords
Q is for Questions
R is for Rootkits
S is for Spyware
T is for Two-factor authentication
U is for USB sticks/devices
V is for Virus variants
W is for Wi-fi
X is for OS X
Y is for You
Z is for Zero-day

The lapse come in the wake of the loss of hundreds of thousands of patients' records by nine NHS trusts in December.

Stockport PCT said it had searched for the missing drive but it was not found - but said it had told local GPs and the Department of Health.

Chief executive of Stockport PCT Richard Popplewell said in a statement that the drive did not have a protective cover and had been dropped on a road during a rainy day.

He said: "It is extremely likely that the data was lost in circumstances in which it would be unrecoverable.

"We did not notify the patients affected because the data lost would not be of assistance to ID fraudsters."

The details related to patients with long term conditions such as asthma and diabetes.

A spokesman for the trust said: "Steps have been taken to emphasise to staff safety when carrying personalised data and there is a full review still taking place of the incident."

The latest loss follows news that Oldham PCT had also lost two USB sticks containing the personal and care assessment details of 148 patients.

Oldham PCT is also reviewing its data security procedures following its loss, which included names, addresses and dates of birth, and is contacting patients affected.