Concerns raised over hospital workers' access to medical records
Tuesday 6th April 2010
Concerns have been raised over the access of non-medical staff to hospital records.
According to research conducted by Big Brother Watch, at least 100,000 people who are not trained medical workers have the ability to get hold of patient information.
On average, each health trust had 732 such individuals who had access to the data.
The organisation, which is a campaign from the founders of the TaxPayers' Alliance and fights for what it considers to be intrusions on privacy, described the figures as indicative of slack security.
It based its findings on the analysis of 151 health trusts.
Director Alex Deane said: "The number of non-medical personnel with access to confidential medical records leaves the system wide open for abuse."
It is necessary to "drastically reduce" the number of people who can get hold of medical records, he added, suggesting that this would prevent the "high rate" of data loss experienced by the NHS.
Written by Angela Newbury
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