Martin Beckford reports:
At least 216 letters have been posted with security codes for door entry and key safe boxes printed on the front of the envelopes. The confidential information is used by carers and nurses to gain entry to immobile patients’ homes.
But it was wrongly added to records on the Personal Demographic Service, part of the NHS “Spine” database that holds the contact details of every patient in England, and then put onto address labels when letters were sent out.
GP practices around the country have been warned about the security breach after patients raised the alarm, with the NHS South East Coast health authority writing to managers: “The National Back Office Service Management team has received a number of incidents from concerned Personal Demographics Service users who have noticed that access codes for key safe boxes and other such door entry systems are being stored within the address field on the national patient index.
Read more on The Telegraph.