UK (UPDATE) COMPUTERS STOLEN http://www.thisiskent.co.uk/where/maidstone/Patient-details-missing-theft-hospital/article-3069898-detail/article.html

Patient details missing after theft at hospital

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N1361e 240506 db 21. BRIAN. Mayday hospital acting Chief executive NIKKI LUFFINGHAM following anouncement that the hospital is to have its funding cut by £9 million. Also some GV's of the front entrance. nine pounds NHS national health service government cuts budgets budget NOT FOR SALE! NOT FOR PUBLICATION! NOT FOR PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION! BE AWARE SOME OF THESE IMAGES MAY HAVE SENSITIVE CONTACT INFORMATION IN THE CAPTIONS. These pictures are 1 frame from each job. There are more photos avaliable

By Shams Al-Shakarchi Shams.Al-Shakarchi@Courier.Co.Uk

HEALTH bosses are reviewing security measures after computer equipment containing patients' information was stolen from Kent and Sussex Hospital.

More than £12,000 worth of computers, including five PCs and a diagnostic computer, were stolen from the outpatients' department at some point over the bank holiday weekend.

The exact time is not known because the ward had been shut.

The diagnostic tool contained sensitive details about 80 patients, but hospital chiefs insist thieves would not be able to access the confidential information.

The Courier understands a key was stolen prior to the theft, which could have been used to enter the department.

Chief operations officer Nikki Luffingham condemned the thieves who have put patients' welfare at risk.

She said: "It is shocking that thieves should steal from the NHS like this, potentially risking patients' treatment.

"I want to pay tribute to the great work outpatient staff did – they managed without the computers and there was no delay or disruption to patient care.

"None of the PCs had any information on them (because it is all stored on a main server), and in any case they were encrypted.

"The diagnostic tool, which the thieves probably mistook for a computer, did contain some details about 80 patients but it is password protected and you need specialist knowledge to use it."

The trust has vowed to tighten up security at the Tunbridge Wells hospital.

Ms Luffingham added: "We are investigating how the theft happened and are looking into ways of further improving security in future.

"We have informed the information commissioner but purely as a matter of courtesy as no patient information has been compromised."

In October 2008, the Courier revealed Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust suffered 794 "security breaches" since the start of 2000. These included losing a memory stick with patients' details in a supermarket car park and break-ins at hospitals.