The importance of Information Governance

Good information governance is crucial to every company, business and organisation. This is particularly the case for companies that work for healthcare services, independent healthcare providers, or for NHS bodies as there is now a requirement for each of these services to submit an Information Governance declaration and self assessment response relating to the standards of Information Security and Data Protection that are adopted by their organisation. For more information on how Words Worth Reading Limited can support you in the completion of this declaration and assessment, visit our IG page.

An example of Information Governance 'gone wrong' was plastered all over the press last week, as news of a Doctor from the East and North Hertfordshire Trust who left a memory stick containing patient identifiable data on a train broke. To date, the memory stick has not yet been found.

Research reported 2 years ago by the Health Service Journal, undertaken in a London hospital, demonstrated that 79 out of 105 doctors regularly carried sensitive patient data on memory sticks, and only 5 of them had followed NHS rules on encrypting the data.

Sounds like a few more training packages are required in this element of patient safety...