Hospital bosses in Wolverhampton have been told to tighten up security in areas where patients’ charts are stored after a computer disk containing almost 800 confidential patient files was found at a city bus stop.

The recommendation was made to New Cross hospital bosses by the Information Commission following an investigation into the security breach which occurred in May.

An internal investigation was also carried out by New Cross bosses immediately following the breach and 30 members of staff were interviewed. The hospital came under scrutiny after confidential information about 113 patients from the heart and lung centre was handed into the Express & Star.

The disk, which contained records dating back to 2004, was accompanied by a note claiming it was found at a bus stop in Wednesfield town centre and signed “Concerned Pensioner.”

The findings by the independent authority also recommended all staff are made fully aware of the hospital’s policy regarding the management of patient records and given ‘apt’ training.

Royal NHS Hospitals trust chief executive David Loughton has vowed to implement  recommendations in the coming weeks.

He said: “It is our policy to continually review all our procedures and we have regularly updated and strengthened our rules around the storage and security of patient data.”