NHS Data Protection Breach Compensation

What Is An NHS Data Protection Breach?

There are many ways you can be a victim of an NHS data protection breach. Like any other organisation, the NHS has a duty to comply with important data protection laws.

It's incredibly important that the NHS complies with the law because of the nature of the data they hold. Medical data is some of the most private and sensitive data there is, and any data protection breach that involves medical data can be severe for the victim.

A lot of the compensation claims we help people with involve the NHS. Examples of NHS data protection breach claims we help people with include:

• Post and email data breaches: when a letter or an email goes to the wrong person
• Email leaks: when medical information is accidentally leaked to others in an email
• Medical records being snooped on: when employees of the NHS abuse their rights to access your medical records
• Medical disclosure without authority: in most cases, you must authorise for your medical data to be shared or accessed. Without your authority, the law may have been breached
• Cyberattacks and hacks: when your medical data is stolen as a result of inadequate protection
• Lost and left data: when your medical data is lost or has been abandoned (usually by accident), for example during transit

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has had to warn NHS employees about not snooping on medical records in recent years. They have also had to prosecute a number of NHS employees who have been caught snooping on medical records belonging to people they know; like neighbours and friends.

That kind of NHS data protection breach is deliberate and entirely preventable. Training, together with systems and procedures, can stop snooping cases in many instances, or at least allow for punishments for those guilty of such offences.

The NHS has also been specifically targeted for cyberattacks because they sometimes use older and outdated systems. The "2017 WannaCry attack" was a clear example of this.

Claiming NHS Data Protection Breach Compensation

You may be able to claim NHS data protection breach compensation if your data has been breached or leaked by the NHS. In many cases, the data that's exposed is very personal and very sensitive. Your medical history and any ailments you have suffered with or medical statuses you have is your business in terms of who knows about it. If this data is exposed beyond your control, it can cause a great deal of understandable distress, especially when the data exposure cannot be undone.

It's therefore important to claim compensation as a victim of an NHS data protection breach. Not only does this allow for the victim to seek justice for the distress caused, but it can also help to improve data protection moving forward.

As a victim, it's good to know that making a data breach claim is usually easy with the way that we work:

When it comes to medical data, the importance of protecting it and securing it cannot be underestimated or undervalued. You may be eligible to claim thousands of pounds for NHS data protection breach, and we can tell you from experience that some of our biggest cases involve medical data incidents. This includes the infamous 56 Dean Street clinic leak where hundreds of patients had their private medical status accidentally leaked in an email.

For help and advice, please contact the team today on 0800 634 75 75.