Stolen laptop manager loses job

A hospital manager has been sacked after his work laptop computer, containing the personal details of several thousand patients, was stolen.

The machine was stolen on 18 June from a car belonging to a Colchester University Hospital manager which had been parked in Edinburgh.

Details on it included patient names, postcodes and treatment plans.

In a statement the trust said the senior manager had been dismissed after a disciplinary hearing.

Peter Murphy, chief executive of the Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, said: "The unanimous decision of the disciplinary panel sends out a clear statement about how seriously the trust takes security and patient confidentiality."

Mr Murphy added the trust would be hiring an external consultancy to carry out an independent assessment of procedures and protocols on data security.

The theft of the laptop first came to light when a letter from Mr Murphy was sent to affected patients. The letter contained assurances that the computer was password-protected and only authorised staff could access the data.

But the message, shown to the BBC by patient Brian Loring, from Holland-on-Sea in Essex, added that since the data was not encrypted, there was a small chance patient details could be accessed.

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Laptop blunder boss dismissed