Personal data breach: faxes sent to an incorrect recipient (England)

A hotel group has informed NHS England’s Corporate IG team that they have received a number of faxes from pharmacies and GP surgeries

A hotel group has informed NHS England’s Corporate Information Governance (IG) team that they have received a number of faxes from community pharmacies and GP surgeries across the country. The faxes included certificates, dispensing token and medication requests and were sent to two incorrect fax numbers:

• 08444 119 012
• 01564 793 558

Advice for pharmacists and pharmacy teams

NHS England has advised:

• Check all fax numbers currently used are not similar to the above fax numbers
• Only use fax as a way of communication if no other method is available/suitable
• Confirm the fax number with the recipient before sending
• Confirm the fax has been received by the recipient after sending
• Any updates to the pharmacy’s contact details should be shared with relevant healthcare contacts

Any breaches of personal data is required to be reported so that the necessary investigation can be undertaken and learnings can be shared.

Guidance and resources

• Reporting data breaches is a requirement under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018
• The NPA cybersecurity FAQ resource can help pharmacy teams ensure they maintain data protection

For further information on this or any other query, please contact the NPA Pharmacy Services team on 01727 891 800 or email pharmacyservices@npa.co.uk.

 Produced by the NPA Pharmacy Services team February 2019.