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Saturday, October 04, 2008, 07:30
A string of data breaches has put sensitive patient information at risk.
Information sent by post disappeared, patient details were stolen and a laptop was misplaced.
A folder containing confidential patient letters also vanished, while private notes were left lying around in a public place.
In total, nine data breaches were recorded by Lincolnshire health services between January 2007 and August this year, according to information released to health journal Pulse under the Freedom of Information Act.
Public sector union Unison said the breaches were damaging staff morale.
Lincoln branch spokesman Marc Glasscoe said: "It makes public sector staff feel that their public image is being tarnished by these events.
"Frequently these incidents take place as a result of members of staff being overworked.
Gary James, director of informatics for NHS Lincolnshire, said: "Given the very many thousands of contacts our staff have with patients, all of which involve the use of records and information, having just nine incidents in two years is an indication of the importance we put on records and information management and how hard our staff work in this regard."
For more details on the data breaches, see Saturday's Echo.
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