ICO again criticises NHS over infosecurity

The ICO said that NHS Stoke-on-Trent lost 2,000 paper physiotherapy files, and is not sure if they were destroyed or simply filed in the wrong place, reports The Register . Basingstoke and North Hampshire foundation trust lost an Excel spreadsheet containing 917 pathology results - emailed from an insecure address. The sheet was not password-protected and the receiving department had no need for such a large quantity of medical records. Both organisations have promised to try harder in future, and their chief executives have signed letters to that effect. Mick Gorrill, head of enforcement at the ICO, said: "Everyone makes mistakes, but regrettably there are far too many within the NHS. "Health bodies must implement the appropriate procedures when storing and transferring patients' sensitive personal information." A quarter of all data breaches which are reported to the ICO come from the NHS.