Data Sharing Review has messages for the NHS
Patients who consent to a course of treatment should be presumed to have given “implied consent” to having their data used for medical research, a review of data sharing across government has concluded. The NHS should also develop a system to allow approved researchers to identify patients who would be happy to take part in […]
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NHS Lothian declares ‘data amnesty’
A Scottish health board has declared a data amnesty after a community health worker lost a USB stick containing personal information on 137 patients.
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NHS manager suspended after losing laptop
A senior hospital manager has been suspended after a laptop computer containing the unencrypted records of over 20,000 patients was stolen from his car whilst he was on holiday. The machine was stolen on 18 June from a car belonging to a manager from Colchester University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The car had been parked […]
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FOI appeal on summary records legal status
A GP campaigning against the consent model for the Summary Care Record has taken his battle to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Dr Paul Thornton, a GP in Warwickshire, has lodged a Freedom of Information Act appeal with the Information Commissioner after the Department of Health refused to release its legal advice on the legal status […]
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Tough new laws on data breaches
MPs have passed legislation giving the Information Commissioner the power to impose substantial fines on organisations that deliberately or recklessly commit serious breaches of the Data Protection Act.
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NHS chief execs may be accountable for data loss
The Information Commissioner has backed proposals by cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell to hold senior Whitehall figures and NHS chief executives personally responsible if their department or trust loses or mishandles personal information. Speaking at the Infosecurity Europe conference in London last Tuesday, Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said he has seen a draft of O’Donnell’s report […]
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Over 10 NHS security breaches in last 6 months
The NHS has reported more than ten data security breaches to the Information Commissioner in the six months since the lost of 25m child benefit records. The Information Commissioner, Richard Thomas, has revealed that his office has been notified of almost 100 data breaches by public, private and third sector organisations since the security breach […]
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Patient Tsar backs tougher data theft laws
The chair of the Department of Health’s National Information Governance Board, and influential patient representative, Harry Cayton, has joined the Information Commissioner in calling on ministers not to water down legislation that would increase penalties for data theft. Cayton said that public confidence in data protection was essential to ensure the benefits of the NHS […]
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Committee backs data protection checks
The parliamentary joint committee on human rights has backed proposals to allow the Information Commissioner to check government IT projects at random to ensure data protection laws are being observed. Richard Thomas, the Information Commissioner, told the committee that new privacy impact assessments would ensure that privacy concerns are systematically identified and addressed early in […]
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MPs call for data loss to be a crime
Reckless or repeated breaches of data security should become a criminal offence, the House of Commons Justice Select Committee has urged in its report into the protection of private data. The call follows the loss of 25m people’s personal details by HM Revenue and Customs last November, described by the committee as ‘truly shocking’. The […]
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