Over 500,000 NHS documents were sent to a private storage company, rather than doctors and hospitals it has been reported.
The papers included medical test results, diagnoses of illnesses including cancer and information relating to child protection. So far no harm has been reported, though the investigation in still underway.
“This is a very serious incident, it should never have happened and it’s an example of what happens when the NHS tries to cut costs by inviting private companies to do work which they don’t do properly, the private company in this case, being NHS Shared Business Services,” said chair of the BMA’s GPs committee, Richard Vautrey.
“Undoubtedly, there will be cases where patients have been seen by their home GP without [the GP having] the information from previous consultations or tests being their file – so they may not know whether antibiotics have been prescribed to a patient or whether tests and investigations have been done.” he added.
“That might mean repeat prescriptions, which would be unnecessary, as they have been taken before. And it might mean a delay in diagnosis. If that happened it’s at best an inconvenience to the patient, and at worst there’s a risk of patient harm.”
Whilst over 700,000 documents were not delivered, an estimated 200,000 of these were not medically related.
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health secretary, said: “This is an absolute scandal. For a company partly owned by the Department of Health and a private company to fail to deliver half a million NHS letters, many of which contain information critical to patient care, is astonishing.
“Patient safety will have been put seriously at risk as a result of this staggering incompetence. The news is heartbreaking for the families involved and it will be scarcely believable for these hospitals and GPs who are doing their best to deliver services despite the neglect of the government.”