A West Lothian cancer patient had hit out after discovering his confidential medical records were ‘inappropriately’ accessed by a member of NHS Lothian staff amid a major data breach.
Martin Laing received a letter from the health board last week informing him of the incident, which is understood to have affected around 90 people.
The 57-year-old, who is suffering from leukaemia and pancreatic cancer, has spoken to Police Scotland - who are investigating - but feels he has been ‘left in the dark’ about the circumstances of the breach.
Martin, from Blackburn, said: “I’m involved in this through no fault of my own and yet I’m being kept in the dark as to who did it, as to what they were intending on doing or whether they’ve actually done anything with the records already.
“I’m a regular visitor to the hospital unfortunately because I suffer from leukaemia, cancer of the pancreas, osteoporosis, COPD and various other things. So I’m saying to myself, what exactly have they gleaned from my records? And will it affect me in the future?
“The police can’t tell me anymore because their investigation is ongoing, which I understand. I received a letter from NHS Lothian last week basically admitting the fact that somebody had breached the Data Protection Act and had accessed my medical files.
“It said that the person had been sacked and that it was now a police matter. But that was basically it. The letter had a contact number for the police and I called them straight away.”
Martin, who receives most of his treatment at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, added: “I was more or less told by the police that I might hear from NHS Lothian in due course but that I might not.
“When I was speaking to the police officer, he did mention the fact that over 90 people had had their data accessed illegally. He wouldn’t put a defining number on it and wouldn’t say if it was a he or she that had done this.
“I don’t know what they’ve seen or what they’ve done with this information which is what I find abhorrent.
“In maybe two or three years down the line, am I going to suffer for this in some way? I just don’t know. It’s really quite worrying.”
The latest data breach follows a similar incident involving the same health board in February 2021. An internal audit found that a member of staff had accessed medical records belonging to more than 150 of their NHS colleagues.
NHS Lothian, who confirmed this was a new data breach, refused to say if the staff member involved had been dismissed but stressed that the breach would be fully investigated.
Dr Tracey Gillies, Medical Director, said “While NHS Lothian does not comment on current or former members of staff, we take the security and confidentiality of patient records extremely seriously.
“We have protocols in place to ensure standards are upheld and if a breach does occur to ensure it is handled appropriately and fully investigated.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “Around 3.30pm on Wednesday, 18 January, 2023, we were made aware of a data breach in NHS Lothian. Enquiries are ongoing.”
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