NHS – Southern General Hospital - 3 April '09
Crate of medical records left unattended for days in hospital corridor.
A brief summary of the data loss is shown below:
NHS – Southern General Hospital
3 April 2009
Patients
Comprehensive medical records
Abandonment of sensitive records in public area.
A stack of crates containing extensive personal sensitive medical records has been left unattended in a public area adjacent to the patient records office at Southern General Hospital in Glasgow.
Pictures of the crates have been circulated widely and despite the matter being brought to the attention of hospital staff, the data was still unprotected when a BBC Reporter investigated the matter on 1 April.
The hospital is investigating the incident and the matter has been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office in Scotland.
Nicola Sturgeon MSP, Health Secretary, is reported to have been concerned by the incident, which is one in a continuous stream of data breaches at the NHS. She adds, "The chief executive of the NHS….wrote to all boards last year to seek their assurance about the proper conduct of their duties concerning the holding of patient records and if it is established that a member of staff has breached procedures then it would be expected that action is taken under disciplinary procedures."