London Health Programmes Data Breach (2011)

A LAPTOP holding the medical records of eight MILLION patients has gone missing. The computer vanished from an NHS building in the biggest-ever security breach of its kind. It went missing three weeks ago but has only just been reported to police. The unencrypted laptop contains sensitive details of 8.63 million people plus records of 18 million hospital visits, operations and procedures. The data does not include names but patients could be identified from postcodes and details such as gender, age and ethnic origin. The computer was one of 20 lost from a store room at London Health Programmes, a medical research organisation based at the NHS North Central London health authority. Eight have been recovered but a search is still being carried out for the other 12.