UK HOSPITAL COMPUTER STOLEN BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | North East/N Isles | Laptop with patient details taken:

Laptop with patient details taken

A laptop containing personal details of more than 1,300 patients has been stolen from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.

NHS Grampian said it was taken from a locked office cupboard in the gastro-intestinal area earlier this month.

It contains details of 1,392 patients including names and addresses, dates of birth, and coded clinical information.

The data is said to be double password protected. Grampian Police have been called in and an appeal has been made for the laptop to be returned.

NHS Grampian revealed on Thursday that the computer was stolen between 1730 BST on Wednesday 15 April and 0800 the following morning.

It is a grey Hewlett Packard 6120, with an NHS Grampian identification number of NHSG4422 and serial number HUB60310Y8.

A spokesperson said: "It was stolen from a locked office in a locked corridor in the department and contains details of 1,392 patients including names and addresses, date of birth, and coded clinical information.

"However, the data is double password protected and the clinical information is numerically coded and impossible to interpret without the original software.

"Nevertheless, NHS Grampian takes any breach of security seriously and letters have been sent to all the patients to alert them to the theft and apologise for the breach."

Further guidance is being issued to staff members to "reinforce existing data security policies and ensure that all computer records are appropriately secured"