Survey identifies inadequate procedures for protecting patients’ privacy

04 Sep 2008

After a number of recent breaches of confidentiality highlighted by the media, a survey has been carried out regarding the NHS’ procedures for protecting confidential data.

Sven Putnis and Andrew Bircher carried out the survey which showed that procedures were somewhat inadequate.

Over 80% of the doctors surveyed used memory data storage sticks to store confidential information. However, only the minority of these sticks (approximately 7%) were password-protected. Although only a sample of 105 doctors took part in the survey, this may be a representative case study of the NHS data protection figures across the country.

Broadly, the research indicates that progress in technology equates to a slackening of data protection. Consequently, in order to protect a patient’s right to privacy, it is imperative that technological progress is continually monitored in the future.

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