A serious Stafford Hospital data breach has been reported, and it’s another simple and avoidable error that has led to private and sensitive data being leaked.
Our lawyers represent a lot of people who are claiming NHS data breach compensation. The reason for this is that healthcare data leaks and breaches can be incredibly common. A lot of the breaches happen so easily, and are totally avoidable. Despite this, healthcare data breaches continue to happen at alarming rates.
The recent Stafford Hospital data breach incident is a story that’s all too familiar for our team here who are helping victims claim for incidents just like it.
What happened in the Stafford Hospital data breach?
This recently reported Stafford Hospital data breach involves personal and sensitive medical data being accidentally sent to the wrong person.
This kind of simple and avoidable breach happens all the time.
A letter was sent to a patient who was awaiting treatment at the Stafford (now County) Hospital. The consent form attached to his letter, however, reportedly had the “complete history” of another patient. It is said to have included their full name, address, NHS number and information about the other patient’s treatment.
The man now fears that his own details have also been sent elsewhere. That could easily be the case if what has happened is a simple issue of consent forms being mixed up.
Undergoing medical treatment is worrying enough. Discovering a medical data breach can seriously add to the worry and stress that’s commonly associated with healthcare problems.
Stafford Hospital data breach not an isolated incident
This Stafford Hospital data breach is one example of a number of similar NHS data breach cases that we have come across.
Public sector data breaches generally lead the way when it comes to the volumes of incidents we help people for. Medical data breach compensation claims are some of the most common types of cases we run, and cases of data being accidentally sent to the wrong person can be worryingly common.
If a person’s private and sensitive medical information is sent to the wrong recipient, they may be entitled to make an NHS data breach compensation case. For help if this has happened to you, make sure to contact our team for free, no-obligation advice.