My Data Privacy Was Breached By Nuffield Health, Could I Claim Compensation?
If you have evidence that shows you were affected by a data breach by Nuffield Health, you could be entitled to compensation. All organisations must protect your privacy and personal data. If they fail, and it can be established that it occurred because of their own failings, they could be held liable.
A breach could occur for a number of reasons whether the incident was intentionally caused, happened accidentally through staff error, or because of a cyber-attack, you could still have the right to sue for compensation.
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides more control on how personal data and privacy must be protected. Together with the Data Protection Act 2018, the legislation sets out the rules that all organisations must follow. Our guide specifically covers data breaches by Nuffield Health and how people can be affected by having personal data compromised.
We offer advice on how much a data breach claim could be worth and the sort of damages you could seek. We also provide information on when a claim could be valid and how with the assistance of a data breach solicitor, you could receive the compensation you rightly would be entitled to.
If you are thinking about pursuing a claim for a data breach by Nuffield Health, our team of trained advisers can provide free legal advice. We provide a no-obligation, initial consultation which allows us to review your case. If we find you have good reason to seek data breach compensation, you could be represented by a lawyer from our panel on a No Win No Fee basis.
To speak to one of our expert advisers, please call a member of the team on 0161 696 9685. If you would like to find out more about claiming GDPR data breach compensation, please click on the sections below.
Select A Section
- A Guide On Claims For A Data Breach By Nuffield Health
- What Is A Data Breach Claim Against Nuffield Health?
- Can Patient Records Be Shared Without Permission Under The GDPR?
- Examples Of Data Breaches In Private Medical Services
- Calculating Compensation Claims For A Data Breach By Nuffield Health
- Types Of Compensation Awarded For Medical Data Breaches
- How To Report Medical Data Breaches To The Information Commissioner
- No Win No Claims For A Data Breach By Nuffield Health
- How A Data Breach Protection Lawyer Could Help You
- How Medical Data Breach Victims Could Start A Claim
- Speak To A Data Breach Solicitor
- FAQs On Medical Data Breaches
- Where To Learn More
A Guide On Claims For A Data Breach By Nuffield Health
A data breach could happen for a multitude of reasons. It may be accidental, it could even be intentional. Cyber-attacks on organisations are more commonplace than you may think. A number of well-known organisations, universities, and charitable organisations have been negatively impacted over recent times. The attacks involve ransomware, phishing emails, and other forms of viruses.
Whether you are employed by Nuffield Health or you are a patient and your private medical information is compromised in a breach, you could have grounds to sue for compensation if you can prove you’ve suffered damage to your mental health or finances as a result.
Since the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation came into law, data subjects have more control on how their personal data is used. Organisations like Nuffield Health must have a valid and lawful reason for collecting, processing, and storing data. They must also have your explicit permission to do so.
Furthermore, Nuffield Health must implement security measures to reduce the risk of a data breach happening. When an organisation fails, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) can launch an investigation. Additionally, the authority has the power to enforce heavy fines on non-compliant organisations.
However, the ICO does not compensate claimants if personal information is compromised in a data breach by Nuffield Health. To claim compensation, you would need to start private legal proceedings yourself.
Data Breach by Nuffield Health Time Limits
If you are considering claiming data breach compensation, you must abide by the time limits for doing so. The time limit is 6 years from the date you gained knowledge of the breach, but when human rights are affected the deadline is just 1 year.
As such, we always recommend that you seek legal advice as soon as possible. This way you can find out which time limit is connected to your data breach claim.
If you have evidence of the damage caused by a data breach by Nuffield Health, please get in touch today. An experienced adviser can provide free legal advice on how best to proceed with your case. We provide an initial no-obligation consultation that is also free of charge.
What Is A Data Breach Claim Against Nuffield Health?
Nuffield Health collects, processes, and stores a vast amount of personal data for patients, employees, and others connected to them. Being one of the largest UK healthcare organisations, Nuffield Health has a legal responsibility to keep data safe and to protect the privacy of an individual (data subject).
When there is a security breach and data is compromised, the ICO must be informed of the incident within 72 hours, and the affected individuals must be informed without delay.
A data breach is defined as an event when personal data that directly or indirectly identifies a data subject is accessed without permission. The breach could be deliberate, criminal or it can be accidental. The consequences could result in:
- Data being stolen, lost, disclosed, destroyed, or altered
A breach in security does not necessarily have to involve a cyber-attack. Breaches occur when physical documents are left out in the open and not locked away in filing cabinets. If documents containing your medical information are left on a desk and someone gets hold of the data, it could be deemed a breach of security.
To learn more about the impact a data breach by Nuffield Health can have, please get in touch with an adviser today. Your case will be assessed to see if you have good reason to sue for data breach compensation.
Can Patient Records Be Shared Without Permission Under The GDPR?
An organisation must have a valid and lawful reason to share your medical information with others without your permission. That said, if you give your consent, they can share your medical records with other organisations, such as the NHS.
The goal of sharing medical information with other NHS organisations is so Nuffield can deliver the best level of care for patients. Other valid reasons to share your data without explicit consent include:
- Vital interests – to protect your life or that of someone else
- Legal obligations – in order to comply with the law, an organisation may share your data
- Public task – if it’s in the public interest to share your data to enable the organisation to conduct its official function.
If you think your medical records were shared with others without your explicit consent, please get in touch today. An adviser will assess your case and offer free legal advice on how best to go forward with a data breach claim against Nuffield Health.
Examples Of Data Breaches In Private Medical Services
There have been a number of data breach incidents involving private medical services over recent times. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) issued fines to the following private healthcare providers:
- Bupa received an ICO fine of £175,000 for not having effective security measures to protect the personal information of its customers
- The Bayswater Medical Centre was fined £35,000 for leaving extremely sensitive medical information in a building that was empty
Another incident involved Babylon Health when a data breach occurred due to a software error rather than a cyber-attack. Confidential medical information was seen by other video consultation app users who had access to other patients’ consultations. The ICO declined to take any action in this instance.
If you have evidence that your medical data was compromised or shared without your consent, please get in touch with an adviser today.
Source: https://www.digitalhealth.net/2020/09/babylon-to-face-no-further-action-for-data-breach-of-gp-at-hand/
Calculating Compensation Claims For A Data Breach By Nuffield Health
An important ruling was made in the Court of Appeal relating to data breach claims. The case was Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc [2015] and the Court ruled the following:
- Claimants can seek data breach compensation for mental harm even if they did not suffer financial losses—a departure from the past position requiring claimants to suffer some financial damage in order to claim data breach compensation for mental damage.
- Compensation for mental damage should be valued in line with personal injury law
The figures found in our compensation table below are paid to claimants for psychiatric and psychological harm caused by a data breach. The amounts are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines which courts, insurers as well as personal injury solicitors use to value injuries.
| Type of harm/injury | Severity | Award Bracket | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Psychiatric Harm | Severe | £51,460 to £108,620 | Prognosis is poor with claimant not being able to hold down a job or work. Issues with relationships are also a problem and treatment is unlikely to aid recovery |
| General Psychiatric Harm | Moderate to Severe | £17,900 to £51,460 | Claimants suffer much like above but the prognosis is slightly better although work-related stress could still be an issue |
| General Psychiatric Harm | Less Severe | Up to £5,500 | Symptoms include depression and anxiety. However, prognosis is more positive with symptoms improving over a several weeks or month |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Severe | £56,180 to £94,470 | Symptoms are permanent which negatively affects claimant's life and well-being. Ability to work is impossible due to severe symptoms of PTSD |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderate to Severe | £21,730 to £56,180 | Similar symptoms as those above, but the prognosis is slightly more positive |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Moderate | £7,680 to £21,730 | Claimant suffers moderate symptoms of PTSD but the prognosis is more positive |
For an accurate estimate of the value of your claim, as well as to prove that your injuries were caused by the breach, you would need to undergo a medical assessment. This must be carried out by an independent medical professional. The report the specialist produces will detail the extent of the mental harm you suffered.
If you would like a more accurate idea of how much a data breach claim could be worth, please contact a member of our team today. If we find you have grounds to sue for compensation, a member of our panel of lawyers could offer to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis.
Types Of Compensation Awarded For Medical Data Breaches
You can claim material and non-material damages in a data breach claim. Firstly, material damages are paid to compensate for financial losses and expenses. Secondly, non-material damages are awarded for mental harm caused by a data breach. This could include the following:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
To discuss your case in more detail, please contact one of our expert advisers today. Your case will be reviewed before a member of our team offers advice on how best to proceed.
How To Report Medical Data Breaches To The Information Commissioner
There is a procedure to follow if you believe your personal data is compromised or you have been affected by a data breach by Nuffield Health. Firstly, you should contact Nuffield Health to file a formal complaint, directing it toward their Data Protection Officer. You should receive a response in a timely manner. However, if the response you get is unsatisfactory or there is no answer at all, you can take the matter further.
The next step would be to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and request the breach be investigated. However, you do not have to report the incident to the ICO if you want to make a claim for compensation for a data breach by Nuffield Health. That said, you should not wait too long if you do contact the ICO (no more than 3 months after your last contact with the organisation). If you do, they may not want to launch an investigation.
If the Information Commissioner’s Office finds that Nuffield Health is responsible for the data breach, the authority has the power to issue a fine. That said, the ICO does not award compensation to victims of data breaches. If you want to pursue a data breach claim, you must do so by starting private legal proceedings. Ideally, this should be with the legal assistance of an experienced data breach lawyer. This is something that we can help you with.
Please get in touch today and an adviser will review your claim before offering free legal advice on how best to go forward with a claim.
No Win No Claims For A Data Breach By Nuffield Health
You may be worried about the cost of hiring a solicitor. However, there is another option which is where we can be of assistance. Our panel of lawyers provide No Win No Fee terms when making a valid data breach claim.
A No Win No Fee agreement allows you to make a claim without forking out any upfront fees. You don’t have to pay ongoing fees either which makes the whole process a lot less stressful financially.
Your case would need to be thoroughly assessed before being taken on. Once this is achieved and it’s determined your case has merit, a lawyer from our panel could offer you a No Win No Fee agreement, also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement, which is the legal contract between the lawyer and you.
The agreement sets out the terms and conditions of the contract. Additionally, the agreement will include the following information:
- No upfront payment is required
- You don’t have to pay ongoing fees as your case progresses
- There would be no fees to pay your lawyer if your claim is unsuccessful
- You only pay a ‘success fee’ if you receive compensation. The success fee is an agreed percentage of the money you are awarded which is capped by law to ensure you take home the bulk of your payout.
Please get in touch with an adviser to find out if you can make a No Win No Fee claim for a data breach by Nuffield Health.
How A Data Breach Protection Lawyer Could Help You
Data breach claims tend to be complex legal processes which is why it is best to seek the advice of a specialist data breach lawyer. Not only will the legal expertise of a solicitor be invaluable from the outset, but it will also help achieve a higher level of data breach compensation.
You could contact one of our advisers on our freephone number. If you have a strong case against Nuffield Health, we will connect you with a specialist data breach lawyer from our panel. If they agree to act on your behalf on a No Win No Fee basis, they would:
- Take time to find out everything there is to know about your data breach claim and how it has affected you
- Gather evidence to support your claim
- Arrange for you to be examined by an independent and local medical specialist
- Act on every aspect of your case
- Work hard to get the highest compensation amount
For free legal advice on how best to go forward with a data breach by Nuffield Health claim, please contact a member of our team today.
How Medical Data Breach Victims Could Start A Claim
Firstly, you should file a formal complaint with Nuffield Health. When the healthcare organisation replies, you can escalate the matter if you are not happy with the response.
If, after 3 months you still have not received a satisfactory response, you should contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The authority may decide to launch an investigation but will not do so if you wait too long.
The ICO does not award compensation to victims of data breaches, but you can file legal proceedings yourself. This is where we can be of assistance, just get in touch with a member of our team today. We provide free legal advice in a no-obligation review of your potential case.
Speak To A Data Breach Solicitor
To begin a claim for a data breach by Nuffield Health, please call a member of our team today. You can contact an expert adviser in the following ways:
- By calling our freephone number – 0161 696 9685
- Use our Live Chat to speak to an adviser
- Request a ‘call back’ by filling out our online contact form
- Email us at [email protected]
An adviser is here to take your call and to provide free legal advice on how best to go forward with a claim for a data breach by Nuffield Health.
FAQs On Medical Data Breaches
Below you will find answers to some frequently asked questions about data breach claims.
What is a data breach in healthcare?
The healthcare sector must have robust security measures in place to protect patient data as much as possible. That said, the most frequent data breaches in the healthcare sector happen because patient data is sent to the wrong recipients.
What is the main cause of healthcare data breaches?
The healthcare sector has been the target of cyber-criminals for a number of years. This has resulted in a rise in the number of healthcare data breaches. However, reports from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) state that human error is the leading cause and that breaches are likely to occur offline.
Can you sue a hospital for data breach?
You may be eligible to claim compensation for a hospital data breach and claim both material and non-material damages. You do not have to suffer a financial loss to claim compensation due to the sensitive nature of your medical records and medical information.
Where To Learn More
How to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
Making a complaint under the Data Protection Act 2018:
Our guide to GDPR data breach claims:
GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims
The Success Fee in No Win No Fee Claims Explained:
The percentage payable on successful personal injury claims
A Guide to the No Win No Fee Claims process:
Thank you for reading our guide on what to do if you fall victim to a data breach by Nuffield Health.
Guide by HW
Edited by REB