Tory fear at lost prescription data

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About 130 prescription forms per day went missing in 2007/08, a rise of 49% on the previous year, when almost 31,000 were lost or stolen.

The forms went missing in transit between pharmacies in England and the arm of the NHS which reimburses the costs.

The Government reacted to the figures by saying that more than 99.9% of prescriptions are processed securely.

Almost 46,000 forms were lost between April and November 2008, which suggests the total figure for the year 2008/09 is likely to rise even further.

Overall, between April 2007 and November 2008, there were 241 separate incidents where batches of the forms were lost or stolen, health minister Dawn Primarolo said in response to a request from the Tories.

The forms contain a patient's name, address, NHS number, date of birth and details of the drugs they are prescribed.

If a patient fills in the reverse of their prescription form to claim exemption from paying, there is also space for a National Insurance number to be written.

The Conservatives said the Government was still sending prescriptions by courier rather than electronically, despite a pledge to do so by 2004.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "The Labour Government has showed time and again that it is utterly incapable of protecting people's most private details which have been entrusted to them."