Guardian News and Media/London

The Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has ordered an inquiry into how the NHS handles confidential medical information after the “completely unacceptable” breach of the privacy of hundreds of HIV patients.
The 56 Dean Street clinic in London has apologised after sending a newsletter on Tuesday which disclosed the names and e-mail addresses of about 780 recipients. The newsletter is intended for people using its HIV and other sexual health services, and gives details of treatments and support.
Hunt said the Care Quality Commission would conduct what he called a thorough and independent review of the effectiveness of existing data security measures in the NHS and recommend changes. It will also look into how the NHS can beef up its security against cyber-attacks and reduce the risk of staff inadvertently disclosing sensitive information.Hunt said the inquiry was vital to ensure patients could be confident that the health service will properly safeguard details of their health and treatment records. “The truth is that we will throw this all away if we lose the public’s trust in our ability to look after their personal data securely,” he told delegates at NHS England’s annual conference in Manchester.
“Nothing matters more to us than our own health but we must also understand that for NHS patients nothing matters more to them than confidence that the NHS will look after their own personal medical data with the highest standards of security.
“The truth is the NHS has not won the public’s trust in our ability to do this as this completely unacceptable data breach at the Dean Street surgery demonstrates.”
The clinic, which is run by the Chelsea and Westminster NHS trust, apologised shortly after sending the e-mail and on Wednesday pledged to investigate how the breach had occurred.
The newsletter was sent to about 780 patients who had signed up to the clinic’s Option E service, which allows people to book appointments and receive test results by e-mail.
Instead of hiding the personal details of those on its recipient list, it included their full names and e-mail addresses.
One HIV patient whose details were exposed by the e-mail said the NHS had “no way of controlling who sees this information now and, in the wrong hands, this list could be dynamite”.
He told the Guardian: “I have been a patient at 56 Dean Street since moving to London five years ago and I have always trusted them with my information. Option E is a service set up for patients who are stable and on long-term HIV treatment. It is designed to make life easier, so your results etc are sent via e-mail.
“I find it impossible to believe that in this day and age this can happen. I was able to scroll down the list and identify the names of a number of people who I knew, some of whom I was unaware of their status.”