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NHS Lanarkshire reprimanded for sharing patient data via WhatsApp

NHS Support worker checks on a patient's notes.
Photo: Getty Images

Patients’ data was added over 500 times in a WhatsApp group, and contained names, phone numbers and addresses.

NHS Lanarkshire has been reprimanded by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after findings that staff had been sharing patients’ personal data over WhatsApp for a two-year period.

Between April 2020 and April 2022, patients’ data was added over 500 times in a message group that 26 staff members

“Patient data is highly