e767pmk@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2017 22:40:09 +0000
Laura Donnelly, Health Editor, *The Telegraph*, 17 Mar 2017
<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/authors/laura-donnelly/>,
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/03/17/security-breach-fears-26-million-nhs-patients/
The medical records of 26 million patients are embroiled in a major security breach amid warnings that the IT system used by thousands of GPs is not secure.
The investigation centres on one of the most popular computer systems used by GPs.
Unbeknown to doctors, switching on "enhanced data sharing" -- so records could be seen by the local hospital -- meant they can also be accessed by hundreds of thousands of workers across the country.
It means receptionists, clerical staff, healthcare assistants and medics working in pharmacies, hospitals, GP surgeries, care homes and prisons can look up sensitive information about individuals - even if there is no medical reason to do so.
Patients would not have been told their records were available in this way, and information could be accessed for malicious reasons, or fall in to criminal hands, privacy experts warned.