Shocking loss of confidential patient records by Kingston Hospital

Helen Whately, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Kingston and Surbiton, was shocked to learn of the loss of confidential patient records by Kingston Hospital last week and is calling for the hospital to take action to make sure patient data is never lost again.

The documents contained personal details including the names, dates of birth and test results of 173 patients. Fortunately these documents seem to have been handed directly to the Surrey Comet rather than any malicious use being made of the data. However, this incident begs the question of how secure patients data is with the NHS.  

The much-delayed NHS IT system may reduce the need for paper records to be transferred between sites in future. However, our confidence in the security of data within any government system has been damaged by incidents such as this and the loss of millions of records by HM Revenue & Customs in November.

The medical director of Kingston Hospital has apologised for the incident and letters are being sent to the patients affected. Kingston Hospital has committed to a full and thorough investigation involving the police and has set up a helpline for patients. These steps are welcomed, provided the results of the investigation are made public, along with the actions that Kingston Hospital will take to ensure this never happens again.

 

 Helen Whately said

          “I am very concerned that confidential patient records were left on a roadside, with no evidence of any attempts to secure them from casual examination. On the back of the astonishingly negligent data losses by HMRC last year, this seems to be further evidence that the protection of personal data is not being taken sufficiently seriously by public services.””

“       “I welcome the commitment from Kingston hospital to a thorough investigation involving the police. It is essential that this investigation is totally uncompromising and most importantly, results in action being taken to make sure this never happens again.””