Hundreds of thousands of Health Service patients' details have gone missing in a new data scandal.
Sensitive details about adults and children were lost in 10 incidents at NINE separate NHS Trusts. The revelation is the latest twist in the data crisis besetting Gordon Brown's Government.
Health Secretary Alan Johnson's department last night confirmed details - kept on computer discs or memory sticks - had gone missing. But the Department of Health refused to reveal how many patients were involved or the exact nature of the blunders.
Cases include the loss of a CD holding 160,000 children's names and addresses by a Trust in East London and the loss of 244 cancer patients' details by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells health trust in Kent.
In one case, in Norfolk and Norwich, medical papers on patients with lung, breast and colon cancer were dumped in a wheelie bin.
The fiasco is the third major scandal over the loss of millions of people's personal details to hit No10 in recent weeks.
It follows last month's loss by HM Revenue and Customs of two computer discs containing financial details of 25million child benefit claimants. In a separate blunder last week, details on three million motorists were lost when a computer disc drive went missing in America.
But the latest revelation was "potentially the most serious data breach so far", according to a senior Whitehall source. The disclosure will be a further blow to efforts by NHS chiefs to set up a centralised electronic database of everyone's medical records - a system already plagued with delays and overspending.
Dr Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association's GP committee, said: "We've warned there must be strong safeguards in place to protect patients' details."
Tory health spokesman Andrew Lansley said: "The Government must ensure everyone who is affected by these breaches is told about them."
A Department of Health spokeswoman said the breaches all happened recently, apart from one incident in Gloucester years ago.
She added: "Investigations are under way in all the Trusts involved. They will have assessed the risk to patients and written to those affected."
THE TRUSTS
Bolton Royal Hospital
Sutton and Merton
Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells (two incidents)
Sefton Merseyside
City and Hackney
Mid Essex
East and North Herts
Norfolk and Norwich
Gloucester Partnership Foundation Trust
LOST DATA BLUNDERS
Details of 25million child benefit claimants
DVLA's data on 3million motorists
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