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Over 5,000 patients' details on stolen laptop

15th February 2008

A laptop with more than 5,000 patients' records has been stolen from a Midlands hospital, reports a source.

The Press Association has said details of patients with a blood disorder were on a database on the laptop when it was stolen from the Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, according Computer World UK.

Data on the laptop includes names, addresses, birthdays and the medical data, and while being password protected the information was not encrypted.

The lack of encryption means thieves may be able to access the data, highlighting the need for encryption.

Currently the hospital is fitting a new data security system, but this laptop had not yet been fitted with it.

The system will see all data on laptops, PDAs and memory sticks being encrypted to make them more secure.

Paul Farenden, chief executive of the Trust, said: "Clearly this is a serious issue. We take precautions to try and protect all the IT equipment in our hospitals from theft but given this is a public building with thousands of people accessing it every day, there are inevitably practical difficulties around security."

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