More than 1,000 patient records lost on unencrypted laptop

A doctor is to be disciplined following the loss of 1,147 patient records on an unencrypted laptop.

The unnamed junior health professional based in Hull is understood to have breached regulations by transferring patients' names, dates of birth, treatments received and hospital numbers on to the laptop which was then stolen, according to The Yorkshire Post.

The incident is the third serious security breach involving Hull citizens' data to come to light in under a year. In June, employment company A4e apologised to 24,000 people in the area whose details were on a laptop stolen from one of its staff.

Chris McIntosh, CEO of encryption company Stonewood, said the doctor should not have been able to take the unencrypted data home.

"Hull and East Yorkshire trust needs to have more than regulations in place that simply shift the blame to employees. It must thoroughly train its workers on the importance of data security and provide them with encrypted storage to ensure data is safe when at rest. And it should put into place software solutions to prevent sensitive data from being saved on unencrypted hardware."

If these measures aren't taken more information will be put at risk and more public money will be spent on the civil penalties resulting from such losses, he added.

The theft took place in November, but the medic waited two weeks before informing the health authority.