Health
NHS trust loses maternity access logs during routine IT work
Human error erased historical access logs for Nottingham maternity records, according to BBC News.
The short version
- A human error on August 18 led Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust to accidentally overwrite historical maternity records from September 2011 to November 2022.[BBC News]
- While clinical notes and observations were restored, the trust cannot restore logs showing who viewed the files during that decade.[BBC News]
- Nottinghamshire Police are assessing whether the loss affects Operation Perth, an ongoing inquiry into maternity care scandals, though no crime is currently identified.[BBC News]
- Current maternity patients are unaffected, and the trust claims no data was accessed or used improperly after the incident.[BBC News]
Key facts
- Human error during a routine database task on August 18 caused historical maternity records from September 2011 to November 2022 to be overwritten.[BBC News]
- The trust restored patient clinical notes and test results but lost the ability to reconstruct who viewed those records during the specified period.[BBC News]
- The error occurred when technical staff missed a setting while duplicating a radiotherapy database, executing script commands on the maternity database instead.[BBC News]
- Nottinghamshire Police and the Information Commissioner's Office were informed of the incident.[BBC News]
What remains uncertain
- Police are evaluating the digital process to determine if the loss of access records impacts Operation Perth, though no criminal activity has been identified.[BBC News]
Sources
Outlet counts describe coverage, not independent confirmation. Reports may share a wire service or original source.
- NHS maternity data lost during routine IT workBBC News - Top Stories