Medics 'put patient data at risk'

Full Article: http://www.stopinjusticenow.com/News_0952.htm

Doctors are warning patient data is at risk after a snapshot poll of colleagues showed lapses in security.

Two unnamed doctors surveyed their colleagues at a top London hospital and found three quarters carried unsecured memory sticks with confidential data.

The two medics said the practices were likely to be similar elsewhere.

Hospital doctors routinely carry memory sticks containing names, diagnoses, X-rays and treatment details - but these should be protected by passwords.

The pair who carried out the survey spoke to 105 doctors at their hospital. In total, 92 held memory sticks with 79 of them containing confidential information.

Just five of those had passwords, the Health Service Journal reported.

Hospitals issue doctors with chip-and-pin cards to access NHS databases and patient records.