IT mistake erases 11 years of viewing history for hospitals’ maternity records
IT mistake erases 11 years of viewing history for hospitals’ maternity records
IT部门失误导致医院11年的产科记录查看历史被删除
A “human error” in the IT department led to Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) losing data from maternity records over an 11-year span. The data loss occurred on August 18, the English hospitals announced in a blog post on Monday spotted by The Register. 诺丁汉大学医院国民保健署信托基金会（NUH）IT部门的一起“人为失误”，导致该院丢失了长达11年的产科记录数据。据《The Register》周一发现的一篇博客文章显示，这起数据丢失事件发生于8月18日。
The blog said the problem is “the result of human error” during routine technical work while “creating a copy of a radiotherapy database for reporting purposes.” The post reads: The process used a set of pre-written computer instructions that had previously been used for a different hospital system. A setting that should have been changed before the process was run was missed. As a result, the process was carried out on a maternity database instead of the radiotherapy database, causing the maternity records database to be overwritten. 该博客称，问题源于在进行常规技术工作时发生的“人为失误”，当时工作人员正在“为报告目的创建放射治疗数据库的副本”。文中写道：该流程使用了一套此前曾用于其他医院系统的预设计算机指令。在运行该流程前，一项本应更改的设置被遗漏了。结果，该流程在产科数据库而非放射治疗数据库上执行，导致产科记录数据库被覆盖。
The overwritten database held data from NUH’s previous maternity database, which included maternity records for women and babies who received care from NUH from September 2011 to November 2022. NUH has been unable to retrieve some of the data, the blog said: … we have not been able to restore the complete history showing who viewed maternity records during this period. As a result, in most cases, we may be unable to confirm whether a maternity record was viewed by a particular person between September 2011 and November 2022. 被覆盖的数据库中存储了NUH此前产科数据库的数据，其中包括2011年9月至2022年11月期间在NUH接受护理的妇女和婴儿的产科记录。博客称，NUH未能找回部分数据：“……我们无法恢复显示在此期间谁查看过产科记录的完整历史。因此，在大多数情况下，我们可能无法确认在2011年9月至2022年11月期间，特定人员是否查看过某份产科记录。”
NUH said that it escalated the problem “within minutes of being identified” and “worked with external specialists and reviewed other sources of information to recover as much data as possible.” It was able to restore patient care-related data, including “notes, observations, test results, and other information recorded as part of a person’s care.” NUH noted that the data loss doesn’t impact current patient care. “No patient information was accessed or used inappropriately as a result of this incident,” the blog said. NUH表示，他们在问题被发现后的“几分钟内”就上报了该情况，并“与外部专家合作，审查了其他信息来源，以尽可能多地恢复数据”。他们成功恢复了与患者护理相关的数据，包括“作为个人护理一部分记录的笔记、观察结果、测试结果及其他信息”。NUH指出，此次数据丢失不会影响当前的患者护理。博客称：“此次事件未导致任何患者信息被不当访问或使用。”
In a statement accompanying the blog, Andy Callow, NUH’s chief digital and information officer, said NUH completed a patient safety incident investigation and has taken unspecified steps to strengthen “technical controls and processes to help prevent a similar incident from happening again.” “I am sorry for the concern and distress this incident may cause to women and families affected,” he said. 在随博客发布的一份声明中，NUH首席数字与信息官安迪·卡洛（Andy Callow）表示，NUH已完成患者安全事件调查，并采取了未具体说明的措施来加强“技术控制和流程，以帮助防止类似事件再次发生”。他说：“对于此次事件可能给受影响的妇女和家庭带来的担忧和痛苦，我深表歉意。”
Police investigating
警方介入调查
The announcement comes as NUH faces a broader police investigation into allegations that over 500 mothers and babies endured “potentially avoidable” harm or died due to systemic failings within NUH, per a review of the hospitals’ maternity department released in June and led by a senior midwife. These reported failings include understaffing, undertrained employees, and failure to listen to parental concerns, the BBC reported at the time. 此次公告发布之际，NUH正面临更广泛的警方调查。据6月份发布的一份由资深助产士领导的医院产科部门审查报告显示，有指控称超过500名母亲和婴儿因NUH内部的系统性失误而遭受了“本可避免”的伤害或死亡。据BBC当时报道，这些被披露的失误包括人手不足、员工培训不足以及未能倾听家长的担忧。
Also, in June 2025, a local police investigation concluded that a file with records for hundreds of maternity care patients at NUH was likely erased “intentionally or maliciously.” NUH recovered that data days after its deletion. Nottinghamshire Police is investigating whether the most recent data loss impacts the larger case concerning the maternity care-related injuries and deaths and if criminal charges will be filed, the BBC reported this week. 此外，2025年6月，当地警方的一项调查得出结论，一份包含NUH数百名产科患者记录的文件很可能是被“蓄意或恶意”删除的。NUH在数据删除几天后将其找回。据BBC本周报道，诺丁汉郡警方正在调查最近的数据丢失是否会影响涉及产科护理相关伤害和死亡的更大案件，以及是否会提起刑事指控。
The police are also trying to retrieve the lost data. “At present, no crime has been identified,” deputy chief constable Rob Griffin, one of the investigation’s leaders, said, per the BBC. Nottingham Maternity Family Group, a group representing some of the families affected by the broader investigation, said that the data loss reported this week is “extremely unnerving.” “Families who have already endured preventable harm, injury, and bereavement should not also have to worry about the security of the records of their experiences,” the group said in a statement, per the BBC. 警方也正在尝试找回丢失的数据。据BBC援引调查负责人之一、副警察局长罗伯·格里芬（Rob Griffin）的话称：“目前尚未发现犯罪行为。”代表部分受更广泛调查影响家庭的“诺丁汉产科家庭小组”（Nottingham Maternity Family Group）表示，本周报告的数据丢失事件“极其令人不安”。据BBC援引该小组的声明称：“那些已经承受了可预防的伤害、创伤和丧亲之痛的家庭，不应该再为他们经历的记录安全性而感到担忧。”