Company: St Georges NHS Trust

Date: 18th June 2008

Information Compromised: 20,000 patient medical records : patients' names, postcodes, hospital numbers and dates of birth
Cause: Theft of six laptops

Details:

Laptops holding tens of thousands of patients' records have been stolen from a hospital and a GP's home, it emerged yesterday.

In the latest lost personal data scandal, the information was stored on the machines in contravention of NHS guidelines.

It was revealed that details of 20,000 patients were on six laptops stolen earlier this month from filing cabinets at St George's Hospital, in Tooting, South West London.

It is the fourth data breach the hospital has suffered in the past year.