Accuracy of patient records may be “bigger issue” than security breaches, expert says

Compulsory audits of NHS organisations by the Information Commissioner would “lift the lid” on the accuracy of patient data, a conference has heard. The Ministry of Justice aims to extend the office’s powers of compulsory audit to NHS bodies, and legislation is expected to be brought in later this year.

Dawn Monaghan, a group manager at the Information Commissioner’s Office, said that the office continued to hear complaints against the NHS about breaches of data security. But she said that mandatory checks might show the accuracy of patient records to be a “bigger issue . . . Accuracy is one of the things we would want to look at.” …