IT mistake erases 11 years of viewing history for hospitals’ maternity records
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Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) suffered a significant data loss incident caused by human error during routine IT maintenance. On August 18, staff mistakenly executed a script intended for a radiotherapy database on the maternity records system, overwriting critical information. This mistake erased the viewing history of patient records spanning eleven years, from September 2011 to November 2022. While NUH successfully restored clinical care data such as notes and test results, they cannot confirm who accessed specific maternity files during that period. The trust emphasized that no patient information was inappropriately used and current care remains unaffected. However, this event occurs amidst a broader police investigation into systemic failures and potential harm at the hospital's maternity unit. Police are currently assessing whether this latest data deletion impacts ongoing criminal inquiries or constitutes a separate offense.
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