PATIENTS’ personal data has been lost after a nurse was carjacked, a new report has revealed.

The theft has just come to light in a report to the board of NHS South East Essex.

It is reported as a “serious untoward incident” where there had been loss of some “personal identifiable data”.

In October last year a member of staff was packing items into the boot of a car parked in Pitsea when two youths jumped in and drove off. The keys had been left in the ignition.

An appointment diary and mobile phone were inside.

The items and the car have still not been recovered despite the police being informed.

NHS South East Essex has refused to say exactly what data was lost, what details were on the phone and in the diary and whether it relates to staff or patients or both.

Health bosses admit in the risk indicator report that the theft “may have data protection implications”.

David Griffiths, director of finance and information, said: “The staff member concerned was present on October 15 when the carjacking took place, but thankfully they were not injured in the process.

“An appointment diary and a mobile phone were amongst the items in the car. We can confirm no computer equipment was stolen.

“The incident was immediately reported to the police and the mobile phone was disabled. NHS South East Essex is conducting an internal investigation to learn from this unfortunate incident.

“The results will help us to develop new ways to ensure the safety of our staff and the security of the equipment they need to do their job.”

There was another theft reported last summer where a car was broken into and a laptop taken from the boot, but the report states no personal information was on the laptop and it was password protected.

Police were informed and it has not been recovered.

11 drugs slip-ups in three months

The report was given to NHS South East Essex board to highlight all complaints, problems or incidents between October and December, as part of a risk indicator assessment.

It also records 188 incidents reported to the National Patient Safety Agency.

The majority, 147 were bed sores, 30 were slips, trips, or falls and 11 were medication errors.

These included five wrong doses which were given due to incorrect transcribing or poor communication and three due to incorrectly labelled drug containers.

Of these reported problems none resulted in any ill effects.

The report also states NHS South East Essex’s complaints service received 16 formal complaints about GP services, four about NHS dental care and one about community pharmacy services in the same period.