Claim compensation for a healthcare data breach

Healthcare professionals owe several duties to their patients, one of which is ensuring that their medical information remains confidential and is only used and shared with other doctors when necessary for diagnosis and treatment purposes. This central tenet of the medical profession is something all doctors learn in their training. However, unfortunately, the integrity of our doctors is being let down all too frequently by data protection negligence across the healthcare sector. When a healthcare data breach occurs, it can put one of the central requirements of medical practice at risk.

The healthcare sector is one of the most vulnerable sectors in terms of cyberattacks, but is also one plagued by human error data breaches, in which the employees themselves are responsible for the exposure of private information. If you have felt the repercussions of a healthcare data breach, you may well know the harm that can be caused to the victims.

We have pursued many data breach compensation claims relating to the healthcare sector over the years, including group and multi-party actions such as the infamous 56 Dean Street clinic data breach. We encourage anyone affected by a breach like this to come forward for advice on their potential claim, and we can offer No Win, No Fee legal representation for eligible clients.

The real-life impact of a healthcare data breach

When we see healthcare data breach headlines, it can be all too easy to get swept up in the numbers and forget the human cost of such data breaches on an individual level. Organisations like hospitals and GP practices hold sensitive information relating to both patients and employees, so information exposure can be very troubling when it does occur.

For example, if a psychiatric patient has the notes from their appointments exposed, they could be put in an even more vulnerable position, worsening their mental health. Many healthcare employers also record employee information relating to religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and disability, typically for the purposes of diversity monitoring. If this information were to be leaked, it could make employees feel uncomfortable and exposed in their own workplace.

Human error in healthcare data breaches

Many breaches in the healthcare sector continue to be caused by human error. Far from making the breach more excusable, these mistakes can make a healthcare data breach even more frustrating for the victims.

For example, in the 56 Dean Street breach we touched on above, for which we have represented a number of claimants, the confidential HIV status of victims was inadvertently revealed when a mass email to hundreds of patients was sent without anonymising the recipients. This was a simple and avoidable error that had a devastating impact on the victims.

Claiming for a healthcare data breach

If you have been involved in a healthcare data breach, you may be able to claim compensation for the harm caused to you on a No Win, No Fee basis.

We understand how stressful a time like this can be, which is why we make the process as smooth and stress-free as possible for our claimants. In a claim, you have the opportunity to achieve justice by recovering compensation for the distress you have endured, and for any financial losses or expenses that were provoked by the data breach, if applicable.

To receive free, no-obligation advice on your potential claim, simply call us today or register your details for a call-back.