Security News > 2023 > August > Brit healthcare body rapped for WhatsApp chat sharing patient data

Staff at NHS Lanarkshire - which serves over half a million Scottish residents - used WhatsApp to swap photos and personal info about patients, including children's names and addresses.

This, the watchdog said, "Demonstrates that information governance expectations regarding WhatsApp were not understood by staff involved in the WhatsApp Group."

The watchdog said policies did not clearly reference messaging apps like WhatsApp and "There was no specific policy in place directly for WhatsApp."

The ICO said the organization should have completed a "Risk assessment prior to making WhatsApp available to download via NHS Lanarkshire's portal, to identify any potential risks relating to personal data such as the risk that staff use the application to inappropriately share personal data."

Communications were sent to both all staff and Teams with the instruction not to use WhatsApp for sharing personal data.

"In a statement sent to The Reg, Trudi Marshall, Nurse Director Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire, said:"We have received a formal reprimand from the ICO for the use of WhatsApp by one of our community teams to exchange personal patient data during the pandemic.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2023/08/03/nhs_ico_warning/