Health trust fined after data breach

A health trust has been hit with a £185,000 fine after it posted the private details of thousands of members of staff - including their sexual orientation - on its website.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust inadvertently published workers' confidential data which also included their National Insurance number, date of birth and religious beliefs in March 2014, watchdogs revealed.

The organisation failed to notice the mistake for 10 months and then took a further five months to alert affected staff, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said as it announced the penalty.

Stephen Eckersley, head of enforcement at the ICO, said:"This trust played fast and loose with the highly sensitive and private information that was entrusted to them.

"It seems they ignored their duty to put rules in place to protect staff who deliver hospital services to others."