DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

UK: ICO fines St. George's Healthcare NHS Trust after medical examination results are sent to the wrong address

Posted on July 12, 2012 by Dissent

From the Information Commissioner’s Office:

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has issued a penalty of £60,000 to St George’s Healthcare NHS Trust in London after a vulnerable individual’s sensitive medical details were sent to the wrong address.

The information was contained in two letters that were sent out by the Trust in May 2011. While the letters were addressed to the correct recipient, they were sent to an old address, despite the person not having lived in the property for nearly five years.

The ICO’s investigation found that the individual’s current address had been provided to the trust’s staff before the medical examination took place. Additionally the correct address had been logged on the national care records service, known as NHS SPINE, in June 2006.

The mistake was made after the Trust’s staff failed to use the address supplied before the examination, or check that the individual’s recorded address on their local patient database matched the data on the SPINE. The Trust had setup a prompt to remind staff about the need to check and update patient information against SPINE; however the Trust knew the prompt could be bypassed and failed to take action to address the problem until it was too late.

Stephen Eckersley, the ICO’s Head of Enforcement, said:

“It’s hard to imagine a more distressing situation for a vulnerable person than the thought of their sensitive health information being sent to someone who had no reason to see it. This breach was clearly preventable and is the result of the Trust’s failure to make sure the contact details they have for their patients are accurate and up to date.

“This is the fourth monetary penalty we have issued to the NHS in the past two months. It is vital that these organisations make sure they have the necessary measures in place to keep patients’ details secure.”

The Trust has now taken action to make sure that the personal information they handle is kept secure. This includes making sure adequate checks are in place to ensure that local information the trust has for patients is correct, by cross checking that information against SPINE and other relevant sources.

Related posts:

  • NHS Trust fined £325,000 following data breach; Trust "frankly surprised" at fine and intends to appeal
  • NHS Trust fined £325,000 following data breach; Trust “frankly surprised” at fine and intends to appeal
  • ICO fines NHS Surrey for failing to check the destruction of old computers
  • UK: ICO issues stark reminder to NHS bodies on patient records
Category: Health Data

Post navigation

← Georgia Supreme Court considers prisoners' medical privacy
Hackers post 450K credentials apparently pilfered from Yahoo (update1) →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Alert: Scattered Spider has added North American airline and transportation organizations to their target list
  • Northern Light Health patients affected by security incident at Compumedics; 10 healthcare entities affected
  • Privacy commissioner reviewing reported Ontario Health atHome data breach
  • CMS warns Medicare providers of fraud scheme
  • Ex-student charged with wave of cyber attacks on Sydney uni
  • Detaining Hackers Before the Crime? Tamil Nadu’s Supreme Court Approves Preventive Custody for Cyber Offenders
  • Potential Cyberattack Scrambles Columbia University Computer Systems
  • 222,000 customer records allegedly from Manhattan Parking Group leaked
  • Breaches have consequences (sometimes) (1)
  • Kansas City Man Pleads Guilty for Hacking a Non-Profit

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Germany Wants Apple, Google to Remove DeepSeek From Their App Stores
  • Supreme Court upholds Texas law requiring age verification on porn sites
  • Justices nix Medicaid ‘right’ to choose doctor, defunding Planned Parenthood in South Carolina
  • European Commission publishes its plan to enable more effective law enforcement access to data
  • Sacred Secrets: The Biblical Case for Privacy and Data Protection
  • Microsoft’s Departing Privacy Chief Calls for Regulator Outreach
  • Nestle USA Settles Suit Over Job-Application Medical Questions

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.