Released 19 July 2024
Request:
Please include the following information each of the following financial years 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24:
- The number of data breaches have occurred
- How many people were affected in each data breach
- Total number of claims made against the NHS Trust
- Total number of claims that have been upheld
- Total cost that has been paid out each year
- The largest payout given to a single person each year
Information disclosed:
1. Please see the table below for information relevant to this part of your request:
| Financial year | Number of breaches |
|---|---|
| 2021/22 | 0 |
| 2022/23 | 0 |
| 2023/24 | 5 |
2. A total of 28 people were affected by the data breaches in 2023/24; one incident affected 22 people while each of the other incidents affected 5 or fewer people.
This information has been anonymised in line with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) Anonymisation: Managing Data Protection Risk Code of Practice as it relates to the disclosure of information relevant to a small number of living people.
3-6. The Trust is a member of the NHS Resolution (formerly NHS Litigation Authority) Clinical Negligence Scheme for Trusts. NHS Resolution manage clinical negligence claims, including data protection breaches, on behalf of NHS organisations and independent sector providers of NHS care in England who are members of NHS Resolution schemes. Payments for claims are paid directly by NHS Resolution. All Trusts’ claims data is collated and published by NHS Resolution in “resolution factsheets” and these can be found in the “Resources” section of their website.
On the basis that NHS Resolution manage data protection claims and pay compensation on behalf of the Trust, they hold complete information relevant to your request and are, therefore, best placed to provide the information you are seeking. The Trust would not hold comprehensive information in the context of your request.
If you require information that is not published on the NHS Resolution website, you can submit a FOI request to NHS Resolution who have confirmed that they are responsible for answering all FOI requests relevant to claims activity for the Trust. This overcomes the fact that settlements are confidential and that the issues of legal professional privilege are not jeopardised.