Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust announced the loss of access logs spanning an 11-year period from its maternity records system following an incident on August 18. The data loss resulted from a technical error in the hospital’s IT department during routine work to create a backup copy of a radiotherapy database. A pre-written set of computer instructions intended for use on the radiotherapy system was instead applied to the maternity database without a required configuration change, causing the maternity records system to be overwritten with archived data from September 2011 to November 2022.
The hospitals stated they were unable to fully restore the access history that would show which staff members viewed individual maternity records during the affected period. This limitation means the trust cannot confirm in most cases whether specific personnel accessed particular records over the 11-year span. However, the hospitals confirmed they successfully recovered the substantive patient care information itself, including clinical notes, observations, test results, and other documented aspects of treatment.
NUH indicated the problem was identified and escalated within minutes, after which the trust engaged external specialists and reviewed alternative data sources to recover as much information as possible. The hospital emphasized that no patient data was accessed or used inappropriately as a result of the incident and that current patient care operations remain unaffected. Andy Callow, the trust’s chief digital and information officer, stated the facility has implemented unspecified measures to strengthen technical controls and processes to prevent similar incidents.
The incident occurs amid broader scrutiny of NUH’s maternity services. Earlier in the year, a review of the department identified concerns about more than 500 mothers and babies who experienced potentially avoidable harm or death, citing systemic issues including insufficient staffing and inadequate training. A separate police investigation from June 2025 had previously examined the deletion of maternity records files. Nottinghamshire Police is currently investigating whether this latest data loss relates to the larger case and whether criminal charges are warranted, though authorities have not identified a crime at this stage.
Nottingham Maternity Family Group, representing affected families, characterized the data loss as deeply concerning given the families’ prior experiences with the maternity service.
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