WALES COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM LOCAL HEALTH BOARD OFFICESEditorial Detail PageNHS PATIENTS COMPUTER FILES ARE STOLEN

PRIVATE medical files containing the names and addresses of hundreds of patients in Wrexham have been stolen.

The back-up data cartridges were stored in a safe which was taken, along with 10 computers, from the Local Health Board headquarters on Wrexham Technology Park.
The cartridges hold names, addresses, dates of birth, family details and information about which patients are registered with which doctor.
Health bosses have today reassured patients the information is extremely difficult to access without the right computer equipment, but Dr Peter Saul, of Rhos Medical Centre, says the theft is still unsettling.
“There is a little bit of puzzlement as to why anyone would break into the health board offices. Some very nice computers were left there. The question is: were these people really after computers or something else such as data? Maybe they didn’t find what they expected to.
“The sort of data held by the health board is names and addresses and doctors and dentists people are registered with. There is no clinical data, so people have no cause of concern about health information being stolen.”
The Local Health Board has played down the theft, saying it was more of an inconvenience than a threat to patient confidentiality.
Bob Evans, director of finance, said thousands of pounds worth of equipment has been lost, but the computers did not hold any patient data.
“We are not particularly concerned on that issue, more on the business issue, because it has cost the NHS money. We don’t keep any information on the hard drive itself, patient data would all be on the server. We follow practiced IT security policies; all of the machines are plasma protected. My guess is that they would wipe them completely and use them from there. They are more likely to get a confidential report from a locked filing cabinet than from the machines.”
The thieves snatched modern computers worth about £1,000 each, but staff were surprised to find they had also taken an old laptop and the safe, containing the tapes.
Mr Evans added: “We also keep back-up security tapes for the server in there. They would hold patient data, but because they are not on a machine they are not likely to be used. It would have to be a pretty determined thief because it would take a huge amount of effort. We are not a hospital so the level of patient data is superficial, it’s not really about medical history.”
But if the thieves do manage to access the tapes they will have a complete database of personal details.
Dr Saul added: “It would give them up-to-date details of where patients live, who they live with, which doctors they are registered with, date of birth, and so on. You could identify the size of their families, who their children are, and that sort of thing. But it would require a lot of effort.”
The data cartridges contained details of 200-250 patients and information about contracts with other hospitals and NHS Trusts.
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