Security fears after hospital laptop is stolen

A concerned patient, who fears his private medical information may now be compromised, claimed he was “disgusted” by the hospital’s attitude when he contacted them to see what they were doing about the theft.

The man, who did not want to be named, said: “They didn’t seem too bothered. They said they’d told the police.

“They said it was only my name, date of birth and hospital number, but who knows? I think it’s absolutely disgusting.”

He had received a letter dated July 29 from L&D chief executive Pauline Philip saying there had been a break-in and the computer had been stolen.

Ms Philip wrote: “Although the laptop was password-protected and had an additional second level of security, there is a small risk as a result of this theft that limited personal information may be available to others.”

An L&D spokeswoman said: “The hospital has written to 409 patients to inform them that a laptop containing their personal data has been stolen from the hospital.”

It was an integrated part of a Gamma Camera and was taken from the Imaging Department. The equipment was password-protected and in a locked room.

It was used to store work lists during diagnostic testing and contained the names, date of birth and hospital numbers of 409 patients who had recently had nuclear medicine scans.

The data is only accessible via software which was not on the stolen laptop. But the L&D was concerned that anyone with sufficient expertise could perhaps access it.

Ms Philip said: “The Luton & Dunstable Hospital takes seriously the security of equipment and personal data. We have written and apologised to the patients involved.

“We have informed the relevant authorities, including the police, to help us locate the stolen laptop and personal data.”