Children's medical records stolen

A laptop containing personal details of more than 200 children has been stolen from a Shropshire medical centre.

Police said a thief walked into the Madeley Health Centre, in Telford, last Thursday and stole the computer.

Telford and Wrekin Primary Care Trust (PCT) said one of its language therapists was running a clinic and had left the laptop in another room.

It has since been disconnected from the NHS network but a memory stick with 238 patients' details is still missing.

PCT apology

It includes the names, addresses and dates of birth of children in the Telford and Wrekin area.

It also has information on the speech and language treatment they were receiving.

The PCT apologised to parents, saying it takes the situation "very seriously".

An investigation has been launched and security is being tightened up, it added.

Security expert Philip Wicks, from consultancy firm Morse, said: "Organisations need to ensure they have controls in place to protect the data on memory sticks, and other removable storage device such as ipods and discs.

"If they are lost and end up in the hands of criminals the data can’t be used for unscrupulous purposes."