BMA computer failure wipes out membership details

"Thousands of doctors have had their detailed membership records wiped out following a huge computer failure in a new IT system built for the British Medical Association" : Guardian Friday February  2, 2007 ...

"the collapse of the system has led to huge numbers of members being removed from its records without their knowledge."


The question from a data protection perspective has to be whether this now exposes the BMA to compensation claims from doctors who suffer financial damage (and subsequent distress) as a result of the loss of their detailed records.

One source is quoted as saying "The worst case scenario would be where there was a major instance of unfair dismissal and they weren't supported - they can cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. It is worrying, and could definitely lead to problems."

If such a failure to provide support was attributable to the failure of the BMA to adequately protect the doctors personal data of the doctors, then a claim for compensation under the Data Protection Act 1998 would be  a likely next step.

A compensation claim of this nature could also have a significant element related to the distress suffered by the doctor.

This could turn out to be a very costly Ctrl Del!



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