Greater Manchester NHS patients compensation for improper medical records access

If you’re one of the 2,000 or so Greater Manchester NHS patients whose medical records have been accessed inappropriately, you may be entitled to make a claim for NHS data breach compensation.

The Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust has written to patients affected by this scandal. An investigation that followed a complaint revealed that thousands of people’s medical records had been accessed by a number of NHS employees without need or authority to do so.

Across an 18-month period, some records had been subject to a single access event, whereas others had been accessed on a number of occasions. It’s yet to be confirmed which staff are responsible for the access events as well.

Greater Manchester NHS patients medical records scandal

This scandal of widespread unauthorised access for some 2,000 Greater Manchester NHS patients is incredibly worrying.

The UK’s data regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), has been informed about the issue. Previously, the ICO has issued penalties and fines to NHS employees who been caught accessing medical records without reason or a right to do so. In many cases, it’s an incident of snooping on people they know, like partners, neighbours and friends.

With the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust case, we could be looking at a widescale snooping problem.

What about other Trusts as well?

What rights do victims of improper medical records access have?

Those whose medical records have been accessed without authority can be entitled to make a claim for NHS data breach compensation.

We’ve been contacted by Greater Manchester NHS patients who have initiated No Win, No Fee data breach compensation claims with us. If your private and sensitive medical data has been improperly accessed, you could be entitled to make a legal case for compensation.

Depending on what, and how much, of your information has been wrongfully accessed can depend on whether we can take a case forward for you or not.

Free, no-obligation advice

If you’re one of the thousands of Greater Manchester NHS patients who have been informed that your medical information has been accessed without authority, please don’t hesitate to contact the team for free, no-obligation advice.