NEWS & UPDATES

A data sharing project called “care.data” was a scheme that allowed GP and hospital data to be stored and shared within the NHS, and possibly with third parties as well. It was supposed to launch in 2014 but has been heavily delayed due to privacy concerns.

Now, the project is being terminated all together, thanks to the Department of Health in England.

So, with all the NHS breaches and leaks – with medical breaches still being far ahead of the tables in terms of breaches by sector – is this a good thing? Have we just dodged a huge data breach bullet?
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A serious data leak occurred at a GP surgery which resulted in an ICO investigation and a fine.

Mr A was the estranged ex-partner of the mother of his 5 year old son (Child B). The practice had been warned by the child’s mother not to let Mr A know of the whereabouts of Child B and her family because of family problems. This information was noted on the child’s medical records.

However, Mr A made a request to have the child’s medical records and provided a court order to show that he had parental responsibility. The practice did not have an adequate written procedure on how to deal with such a case, which resulted in Mr A being sent all of Child B’s medical records four days after the request had been made.
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We are acting for a number of patients who were affected by this leak – please contact us if you have yet to make a claim.

On the 1^st of September an NHS sexual health clinic in Soho made the mistake of sending out a newsletter to over 700 users of the clinic that had patient’s names and email addresses visible for all recipients

The majority of those whose identity was revealed in the email are HIV positive, as they were using a particular service known as Option E. The clinic services a small area of London, and people were able to identify other people they know from names and / or the email address.

The leak is one of the most significant in UK and NHS history.
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