Laptops Stolen From Hospital

Six laptops containing personal information on around 20,000 patients have been stolen from a south London hospital.

It is understood the computers were taken from a locked cabinet in a secure room at St George's Hospital in June.

A major investigation has been launched and St George's Healthcare NHS Trust has begun an internal inquiry into the incident.

A spokeswoman said that the Trust has written to every patient to apologise for the "potential risk to their confidentiality".

"The Trust acknowledges that patient data should not have been stored on laptops. This was done as a temporary measure because of a problem with the computer network. However, the laptops were in a secure area under lock and key," she said.

However, the spokewoman added that all the data on the laptops was password-protected and personal information such as postcode was hidden, although the patient's name and hospital number was shown.

Meanwhile. another laptop computer containing confidential information about 11,000 patients had been stolen from a GP's home in Wolverhampton.

It is believed that the laptop was among the articles stole in a recent burglary at the home of an unnamed doctor, who works at the Castlecroft Medical Practise.

It is understood that the information was not encrypted - which is contrary to the Department of Health guidelines.

The sensitive information included patients' names, dates of birth, addresses, contact details and confidential medical records.

It is believed the practise has written to all of its patients to inform them of the incident.

(DS)