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NHS Lanarkshire has been reprimanded by a watchdog after workers members shared sufferers’ private information on WhatsApp lots of of instances.
The Info Commissioner’s Workplace (ICO) reported that private data comparable to affected person names, telephone numbers and addresses had been shared by 26 workers members on greater than 500 events.
Photographs, movies and screenshots – which included medical data – had been additionally shared on the messaging platform.
The delicate information was leaked between April 2020 and April 2022.
NHS Lanarkshire had apologised to these affected.
Whereas WhatsApp is permitted for NHS staff for fundamental communication, it’s not permitted by the well being board for sharing delicate information.
A non-staff member was additionally added to the WhatsApp group by mistake, ensuing within the disclosure of private data to an unauthorised particular person.
As soon as NHS Lanarkshire grew to become conscious, it reported the incident to the ICO.
An investigation was subsequently launched, which concluded that the well being board didn’t have the suitable insurance policies, clear steering and processes in place when WhatsApp was made accessible to obtain.
This meant that NHS Lanarkshire had no evaluation of the potential dangers referring to sharing affected person information on this method.
UK Info Commissioner John Edwards stated: “Affected person information is very delicate data that have to be dealt with rigorously and securely. When accessing healthcare and different very important providers, folks have to belief that their information is in protected palms.
“We respect that NHS Lanarkshire, like all healthcare suppliers, was beneath enormous strain in the course of the pandemic however there isn’t any excuse for letting information safety requirements slip.
“Each healthcare organisation ought to take a look at this case as a lesson realized and contemplate their very own insurance policies in terms of each messaging apps and processing details about sufferers.
“We will probably be following up with NHS Lanarkshire to make sure that affected person information shouldn’t be compromised once more.”
The ICO issued a lot of suggestions to stop future information breaches, together with implementing a safe medical picture switch system for the storage of photos and movies inside a care setting.
The watchdog added that NHS Lanarkshire ought to “contemplate the dangers” in relation to private information and be certain that workers are “conscious of their obligations to report private information breaches internally at once to the related crew”.
The well being board – which has been requested to offer an replace of motion taken inside six months – stated it has already taken a lot of steps.
Trudi Marshall, nurse director, well being and social care North Lanarkshire, stated: “We now have obtained a proper reprimand from the ICO for the usage of WhatsApp by one among our neighborhood groups to change private affected person information in the course of the pandemic.
“We recognise that the crew took this method as an alternative choice to communications that will have usually taken place in both a medical or workplace setting, however was not potential at the moment on account of COVID restrictions.
“Nevertheless, the usage of WhatsApp was by no means meant for processing affected person information.
“We provide our honest apologies to anybody whose private particulars had been shared by means of this group.
“We now have already taken a lot of steps together with different apps that may be launched for the switch and storage of photos and movies inside a care setting.
“That is being taken ahead whereas contemplating the dangers referring to the storage of any private information.”
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