A data breach that affected the information of women who had suffered stillbirths was not investigated further.
Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (HHFT), which runs Basingstoke, reported the data breach to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) after it was revealed last month.
The incident involved three women whose data included details of previous miscarriages or failed pregnancies and, while listed as “restricted” in the documents published online ,were available for anyone to access . The published information could lead to the women’s identification.
The ICO has completed its investigation into the incident and has decided not to take further action, but instead to offer advice.
Julie Dawes, deputy chief executive and chief nurse at HHFT, said: “Last month, as a precautionary measure, we reported a potential breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
An ICO spokesperson said: “We have reviewed the details of this incident and have decided not to take formal enforcement action. The women affected are not named, we did not consider them to be easily identifiable and the company had reviewed the documents prior to publication. We are providing advice on protection to consider additional measures to make identification less likely in future cases.”
The hospital had previously apologized to the women affected by the incident and said it was offering them support.
HHFT has reported eight other data breaches to the ICO in the past five years, with only one resulting in further action. The breaches include data being emailed to the wrong recipient in July this year, information being published or faxed to the wrong person in August last year and a data leak in July 2017.
