The worrying trend of data breaches will not help the NHS funding situation

Data breaches are practically the new norm, and with healthcare sector breaches at the top of the pile, we have a lot of reasons to be worried as a nation relying on a public-funded healthcare system.

For the private healthcare systems like they have in the U.S., the liability and the costs can fall on a private organisation or their insurance. In the U.K., the taxpayer picks up the tab.

The increasing numbers of healthcare sector data breaches is not helping the NHS funding situation at all.

We may be in somewhat of a Catch-22 situation with the issue of data breaches and funding, which is a common predicament for NHS problems. The fact of the matter is, a data breach victim can be entitled to compensation, and with the data being leaked or breached being highly sensitive – i.e. personal medical information – the damage can be severe.

This means, of course, increased legal costs to meet this new wave of claims.

What can be done to defend against the trend?

Better and more up-to-date cybersecurity software and I.T. infrastructure in general is the way forward. You may recall the massive ‘WannaCry’ breach last year that specifically targeted older (and therefore weaker) systems.

The NHS ended up being a prime victim for this very reason.

But to have better systems and software to defend against the data risks, more funding is required, and we all know that extra funding is one heck of a delicate subject when it comes to our NHS.

As is always the case, something has to be done…

• We simply cannot sit idly by and watch more data breaches like the infamous 56 Dean Street breach that resulted in almost 800 people having their HIV status disclosed.
• We cannot helplessly watch our Accident & Emergency services fall apart because systems are down off the back of a cyber-attack targeting weaker infrastructure.
• We cannot continue to allow NHS staff to snoop on the records of family and friends.

The problem is already here! Data breaches, data leaks and data hacks are happening; right now.

A medical data breach victim is entitled to compensation in a similar way to a medical negligence victim. We already know that cost-cutting and underfunding will lead to more claims, and the problem of increasing data breaches is not going to help.

Although we represent victims for medical negligence claims, we absolutely want to see a better NHS where claim numbers are small because the quality of care is high across the board.

It’s only right that a victim can claim compensation, and that’s what we’re here for; but this data breach problem is a real worry, and with the healthcare sector at the unenviable position of being top in terms of breaches, there’s every reason to be concerned…