Thought Leadership
A reused script with a forgotten setting has overwritten a database containing eleven years of birth data in Nottingham.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has made a consequential data loss public. “On August 18, 2026, human error during a routine technical process resulted in a database containing birth data being inadvertently overwritten,” explains Andy Callow, Chief Digital and Information Officer at NUH.
The maintenance work was originally intended to create a copy of a radiotherapy database for reporting purposes. According to NUH, however, technicians used pre-defined instructions that had previously been used for another hospital system. “A setting that should have been changed before starting the process was overlooked,” the statement says. “As a result, the process was executed on a maternity database instead of the radiotherapy database, leading to the birth data being overwritten.”
Eleven Years of Birth Data Affected
Records of women and newborns who were cared for in the Trust’s maternity services between September 2011 and November 2022 are affected. The data originates from the now-replaced Medway maternity system.
With the help of external specialists and additional data sources, the hospital states it was able to recover the data relevant for treatment. “Clinical information, including notes, observations, test results, and other information collected as part of treatment,” remains available. Current patients are not affected, nor is ongoing care in the maternity clinic.
Audit Trail Largely Lost
On the other hand, the history of access to the maternity records could not be saved. “Therefore, in most cases, we cannot confirm whether a specific person viewed a maternity record between September 2011 and November 2022,” NUH concedes. Why this log data could not be restored from a backup is left unanswered in the statement.
This is particularly sensitive because of the context. NUH’s maternity service has long been criticized for alleged failings, with Nottinghamshire Police investigating as part of Operation Perth. The hospital has informed the police of the incident, and they are now examining the impact of the data loss on their investigation. Access logs can play a role in such proceedings, for example to determine who viewed files and when.
ICO Informed, Controls Tightened
According to NUH, the issue was escalated within minutes of discovery. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data protection authority, was notified within the deadline. “No patient data was unlawfully accessed or used as a result of this incident,” the Trust emphasizes. An investigation into the incident as a patient safety event has been completed. NUH did not specify what concrete measures were taken.
“I regret the distress and concern that this incident may cause affected women and families,” Callow says. While there was “no impact on ongoing maternity services or the care of women and babies,” he added: “However, to date we have been unable to fully restore the historical records of who accessed birth records between September 2011 and November 2022.” Processes and controls have been strengthened “to prevent a similar incident from happening again.”
(Editorial Team)
