IT mistake erases 11 years of viewing history for hospitals' maternity records

On August 18, a technical mistake at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust resulted in the accidental overwriting of maternity records spanning 11 years. The incident occurred during routine maintenance while staff attempted to duplicate a radiotherapy database for reporting tasks. By utilizing a reused set of computer instructions without updating a critical setting, the team inadvertently targeted the Medway maternity database instead. This error impacted data covering patient information from September 2011 through November 2022.

The Trust confirmed that the mishap was caused by human error and was reported immediately upon discovery. While the data loss was significant, officials stated that essential clinical details required for patient care, such as test results and observations, have been successfully retrieved. Furthermore, current maternity services remain operational, and the organization confirmed that no unauthorized parties accessed or misused any sensitive patient information during the event.