Emergency Surgery Handover: Are We Breaching the Data Protection Act?

An incident involving the discovery of a computed tomography report in the hospital canteen, identifying the patient's name, age and current location, prompted us to review our emergency surgical data protection practice. This highlighted a lack of training, awareness and implementation of data protection policy. All employees working in the NHS are bound by a legal duty of confidence to protect personal information they may come into contact with during the course of their work. They are responsible for any records they create or use during their duties.