Sefton PCT has written to thousands of NHS staff to apologise for the mistake, and launched an investigation into how it occurred.
Four organisations bidding to run sexual health services were sent a spreadsheet meant to show anonymised data about staff levels and budgets. But the spreadsheet contained a full list of PCT staff, showing names, dates of birth, national insurance numbers, salary and pension details.
A spokeswoman for Sefton PCT confirmed that details of 768 nurses, 130 healthcare assistants and 64 health visitors were listed. She refused to confirm where the data had been sent, but said three of the recipients were public sector and one a not-for-profit organisation.
Kevin Coyne, Unite national officer for health, said: ‘It is disgraceful that an organisation trusted to protect the highly personal and sensitive medical details of thousands of patients can expose their staff in such a dangerous way and then deny them the information of where the information has been illegally sent.’
nick.bostock@haymarket.com
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