Database copy goes catastrophically wrong

On August 18, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust lost 11 years of maternity record viewing history due to a missed configuration setting during routine database work.

“The process was carried out on a maternity database instead of the radiotherapy database, causing the maternity records database to be overwritten.”

How the mistake happened

Staff used pre-written instructions meant for a different system but forgot to change a critical setting before running the process, causing it to overwrite the maternity database instead of the radiotherapy database.

What data was actually lost

The hospital cannot restore viewing history showing who accessed maternity records from September 2011 to November 2022, but patient care data like notes and test results were successfully recovered.

“we have not been able to restore the complete history showing who viewed maternity records during this period.”

Timing adds to existing crisis

The data loss comes as Nottinghamshire Police investigate over 500 cases of potentially avoidable harm or death at the same hospital's maternity department, with allegations of understaffing and failure to listen to parents.

Families fear for their records

Nottingham Maternity Family Group called the data loss extremely unnerving, saying families who already suffered preventable harm should not worry about the security of their experience records.

“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.”

Hospital promises to prevent repeat

NUH's chief digital officer apologized and said the hospital completed a safety investigation and strengthened technical controls, though police are still determining if the incident impacts the broader criminal investigation.

“I am sorry for the concern and distress this incident may cause to women and families affected.”