Patient data found on hard drives Medical records, confidential letters and X-rays of patients in Lanarkshire have been found on second-hand computer hard drives.
Two disks bought for a study on data security contained sensitive information from Monklands and Hairmyres hospitals.
NHS Lanarkshire said the disks were disposed of in 2006 before it improved its data protection procedures.
The disks, bought in the UK had patient medical records, images of X-rays, medical staff shifts and sensitive and confidential staff letters relating to Monklands and Hairmyres hospitals.
In a statement, Lanarkshire Health Board said: "This study refers to hard disks which were disposed of in 2006. At that time NHS Lanarkshire had a contractual agreement with an external company for the disposal of computer equipment.
"In this instance the hard drives had been subjected to a basic level of data removal by the company and had then been disposed of inappropriately. This was clearly in breach of contract and was wholly unacceptable."
The trust has carried out a review of its policies and now no longer uses external companies to dispose of IT equipment, the statement added.
The information uncovered in the study was enough to expose individuals and firms to fraud and identity theft, said the researchers.
So buy yourself a second hand hard disk, you never know what you will find out.
“Ask for no guarantees; ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away.” Henry De Bracton
Angus
Angus Dei on all and sundry
NHS Behind the headlines
Angus Dei politico
Two disks bought for a study on data security contained sensitive information from Monklands and Hairmyres hospitals.
NHS Lanarkshire said the disks were disposed of in 2006 before it improved its data protection procedures.
The disks, bought in the UK had patient medical records, images of X-rays, medical staff shifts and sensitive and confidential staff letters relating to Monklands and Hairmyres hospitals.
In a statement, Lanarkshire Health Board said: "This study refers to hard disks which were disposed of in 2006. At that time NHS Lanarkshire had a contractual agreement with an external company for the disposal of computer equipment.
"In this instance the hard drives had been subjected to a basic level of data removal by the company and had then been disposed of inappropriately. This was clearly in breach of contract and was wholly unacceptable."
The trust has carried out a review of its policies and now no longer uses external companies to dispose of IT equipment, the statement added.
The information uncovered in the study was enough to expose individuals and firms to fraud and identity theft, said the researchers.
So buy yourself a second hand hard disk, you never know what you will find out.
“Ask for no guarantees; ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away.” Henry De Bracton
Angus
Angus Dei on all and sundry
NHS Behind the headlines
Angus Dei politico
No comments:
Post a Comment