5,000 patient records stolen
A laptop containing personal records of more than 5,000 out-patients has been stolen from a clinic at a Black Country hospital.
A laptop containing personal records of more than 5,000 out-patients has been stolen from a clinic at a Black Country hospital.
The theft, from Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, comes in the wake of several high-profile laptop thefts. Thousands of letters were this week being sent to patients warning them of the incident.
They are being told the computer contains their names, addresses, birth dates and medical details.
The computer was taken on January 8 from the anticoagulent clinic, which deals with people who suffer from blood-thinning problems.
Police were told at the time, but the 5,123 patients involved have not been informed until now.
Russells Hall today apologised and reassured patients that the database is password-protected.
But trust chief executive Paul Farenden admitted the laptop, a Fujitsu Siemens C Series Lifebook, had not yet been fitted with a new £135,000 data security system currently being implemented at Russells Hall.
He said: "Clearly this is a serious issue. We take precautions to try and protect all the IT equipment in our hospitals from theft but given this is a public building with thousands of people accessing it every day, there are inevitably practical difficulties around security."
He said there was no evidence that patient information on the stolen laptop had been accessed.
One 55-year-old patient from Wombourne, who received her letter this week, said: "Whoever is now in possession of these details can open a bank account in my name and run up all kinds of debts."
The letter to patients signed by three senior staff describes the theft as "very unfortunate".
Last week it emerged a laptop containing the personal details of up to 14,000 convicted criminals was stolen from Birmingham Magistrates Court over Christmas.