Hospital IT Error Erases 11 Years of Maternity Records
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust lost 11 years of maternity records due to a human error in its IT department. The data loss occurred on August 18 during routine technical work.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has reported a significant loss of maternity records spanning 11 years, caused by a human error within the hospital's IT department. The data erasure took place on August 18.
The incident occurred while IT staff were engaged in routine technical work, specifically creating a copy of a radiotherapy database for reporting purposes. This process resulted in the irreversible loss of historical data related to maternity services.
NUH announced the data loss on Monday via a blog post, emphasizing that the issue stemmed from human error and not a security breach. While the loss is significant, the trust stated that patient care was not immediately affected.
The hospital is currently investigating the full extent of the data loss and exploring options for data recovery. Measures are being implemented to prevent similar errors from occurring in the future.