Workplace medical data breach: £11,000 settlement

Our team previously recovered £11,000 in settlement of a workplace medical data breach compensation case which had a significant impact on our client.

Medical data is some of the most personal and sensitive information that there can be about us, so for this to be misused or exposed in a workplace setting can cause considerable distress. That is why in a case of this nature we are often able to recover substantial damages as we were able to do so for our client in this particular matter.

£11,000 compensation settlement for workplace medical data breach

Our team was pleased to have been able to previously recover £11,000 in compensation in settlement of a workplace medical data breach compensation case. Although we are unable to go into particular detail about the matter owing to confidentiality, this was a serious breach of our client’s right to privacy. Ultimately, medical information had somehow been accessed within their workplace, and the healthcare data in question was particularly personal and sensitive.

Owing to the significance of the impact on our client, we were able to obtain an award of £11,000 in damages to compensate them for the distress caused by the loss of control of their personal information. It can be quite typical for medical data breach claims to settle in excess of £10,000 which is above our average settlement of approximately £6,000 in damages per claimant. This usually comes down to the particular significance of the distress that can be caused to those who are affected.

The importance of workplace and healthcare data protection

All information within the workplace should be protected to ensure that organisations are complying with the GDPR. Workplace medical data breach incidents can be more significant in terms of the impact on the victim because healthcare data is generally the precise kind of information that we want to maintain strict confidentiality over.

If private and personal healthcare information is disseminated or accessed in the workplace when there was no authority or reason to do so, it is easy to see how this could cause considerable distress. If a breach of the GDPR has taken place, our job is to represent those who have been wronged to recover damages for any distress that they have suffered from.

As leading Data Leak Lawyers, we have seen many incidents of this nature, and we have helped many people recover compensation when an event of this nature has happened.

Snooping incidents and ICO prosecutions

One way in which a workplace medical data breach could occur is when there has been an incident of snooping. This can typically involve those who have access to personal information misusing their right of access to snoop – usually out of curiosity – on their colleagues or perhaps for people that they know.

In recent years, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as the UK’s data watchdog, has had to issue prosecutions against individuals who have committed such breaches of the GDPR. In fact, the problem seems to have been deemed to have been so bad that there was a blanket warning previously issued by the ICO to remind people of their obligations and remind people that they could face prosecution in the event that data access rights are misused.

As much as there is a zero-tolerance approach in respect of breaches of the GDPR, and the approach of the ICO in this regard, we, as specialist privacy claims lawyers, can make sure that anyone affected by an incident of this nature can recover the damages they could be owed.

If your medical notes have been involved in a breach

Serious impact of data breaches: claiming compensation