UK COMPUTER STOLEN http://www.guardian.co.uk/healthcare-network/security
Calderdale loses patient data on stolen computer
An hospital foundation trust has written to 1,500 patients after the theft of a computer containing their personal details
Calderdale and Huddersfield foundation trust said it has informed local police about the theft and has since increased its security precautions.
Yvette Oade, the medical director for the trust, said: "At the end of November it was found that part of an electromyography (EMG) machine, a computer which drives it, had been taken from a locked office in the neurophysiology department at Calderdale Royal Hospital.
"We have written to some of the department's patients because limited personal data, such as names and dates of birth, was on the password protected computer."
The NHS has suffered a string of small losses of personal data, many involving stolen equipment. In November, information commission Christopher Graham said that data losses from the health service outnumbered those from any other sector, making up 30% of all data loss incidents reported to his office.
The information commissioner has the ability to fine organisations up to £500,000 for breaches of data protection act. In November, he fined Hertfordshire county council £100,000 for two serious cases in which council employees faxed highly sensitive personal information to the wrong places.
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