Trust boss 'ashamed' over maternity data loss

The chief executive of a trust at the centre of the largest maternity scandal in NHS history said he is "ashamed and embarrassed" after 215,000 records of mothers and babies were lost.

Last week, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) said it had lost the historical data during routine IT work. It was later recovered.

Maternity records of women and babies who received care between September 2011 and November 2022 were overwritten during work at the trust.

Information has been restored since the "human error" on 18 August, but the trust has not been able to restore the history showing who viewed or amended maternity records during this period.

At the trust's annual public meeting on 30 September, chief executive Anthony May said the recent track record of handling of data at the trust "frankly, leaves a lot to be desired".

Bereaved and harmed families who attended the meeting said the breach compounded the trauma they were already dealing with.

It comes after NHS England said staff in England suspected of looking at patient records without a valid reason would be immediately suspended.

The trust also faced issues with data handling last year after a police probe into a missing data file containing hundreds of maternity cases found it was most likely deleted "intentionally or maliciously".

Speaking at the meeting, May said: "We have tried extremely hard in the last few years to be transparent and open in this organisation and as I stand here today, the last thing I want to be telling you about are embarrassing mistakes which affect harmed families.

"Frankly, I am ashamed of it. We will do what we can to get the data back."

The Ockenden review into maternity services at NUH concluded in June and found hundreds of mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm or died due to "deeply embedded systemic failures" at maternity units in Nottingham.

Nottinghamshire Police has been notified of the data incident and is assessing whether there has been any impact on Operation Perth - the investigation into deaths and injuries related to maternity care at the trust.

May added: "This latest data loss is an awful mistake.

"There should have been checks and balances in place to mitigate against an accident.

"We and the police are satisfied it was an accident, but that doesn't matter because we should have had processes in place to ensure that could not happen.

"Records on that database have been restored and it doesn't affect anybody's care today.

"What we haven't got at the moment is the audit trail, if someone has been into those records to make an amendment or add a comment."

Andy Callow, chief digital and transformation officer at NUH, said the trust was seeking help from the police and NHS England to recover the information.

He added: "I apologise that this data has gone missing. It's unacceptable.

"We are currently seeking guidance around communicating to 215,000 unique patients that are in the database and how that might be communicated."

Emily's daughter suffered a serious brain injury when she was born four years ago.

She said due to her poor care, her daughter could not walk or talk and was partially sighted.

Speaking after the meeting, she said: "The sense of violation and facing the possibility that we're never going to get answers for who has gone snooping is something we have to live with.

"It feels like the harm never stops, there's always an extra layer added."

But she added it was "promising that Anthony May held his hands up and identified it for what it is".

Carl Everson and Carly Wesson terminated their pregnancy in 2019 after being advised their daughter had a rare genetic condition, but they were told six weeks later that the test result had been a false positive.

The couple said NUH has an ongoing investigation into a member of staff potentially looking at Carly's medical records when they did not need to.

They have been told that their access log has in fact been saved, but Carly said the process has been "very distressing".

She said: "There is a potential that someone has looked at my medical records when they shouldn't have.

"We don't have any trust that our data is safe because this isn't the first time information has gone missing.

"It is deeply concerning."

A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner's Office said: "When people access medical care, they share some of their most sensitive personal information and trust that it will be protected.

"We expect organisations to have appropriate measures in place to keep medical records safe and secure.

"Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has made us aware of this incident involving maternity records and we are making inquiries.

"We recognise this incident may be concerning for those affected. Anyone worried about their personal information can visit the ICO website for advice and support."

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