NHS trust apologises for Covid trial data breach

An NHS Trust shared the email addresses of a number of people taking part in a Covid vaccine trial.

The Midlands Partnership NHS Trust sent an email to recipients who could all see each other's addresses.

The trust, based in Stafford, said it had investigated the incident and concluded it was due to human error.

The case has been reported to data protection watchdog the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

The data breach occurred last month when one of the trust's administration team emailed people taking part in the trial.

They used the 'carbon copy' - or cc - field instead of 'blind carbon copy' to anonymise the recipients.

The trust tried to recall it but in a letter sent to recipients, seen by BBC Radio Stoke, admitted it could not be sure no-one had opened the email.

The way their team works has been revised and a manager has undergone additional training.

A spokesperson for the NHS trust said it sincerely apologised for the error and the ICO had accepted the actions they took.

The ICO said, after reviewing information from the trust, it gave them data protection advice and closed the case with no further action taken.