Are you a patient who’s had your personal data breached by a care worker? If so, you might be wondering how to claim for a care worker data breach. Health and care organisations have a responsibility to protect the personal data of data subjects by law. If these organisations fail to comply, a care recipient’s personal data could be exposed. This can lead to serious consequences for the care recipient’s mental well-being and financial security.
In this guide, we first discuss what data protection law outlines an organisation’s responsibilities and when you could be eligible to make a data breach claim. Then, we look at examples of what types of personal data may be exposed if care worker data breaches occur.
Additionally, we explore what types of evidence could support your case and how much compensation could be awarded for suffering damage due to a data breach.
At the end of this guide, you can discover how one of our No Win No Fee data breach solicitors could help you seek compensation for a care worker data breach, what services they offer, and how this may benefit you.
We have a team of advisors available to help 24/7. By getting in touch with our team, you can discuss your circumstances and confirm whether you can be connected with a solicitor. Our team of advisors provide legal advice for free so to get in touch, why not:
- Call 0800 073 8804.
- Enter your details on our online claims form.
- Type a message in our live chat box.
Jump To A Section
- How To Claim For A Care Worker Data Breach
- What Data Do Care Workers Have Access To?
- Evidence Supporting Medical Data Breach Claims
- Estimated Payouts For A Care Worker Data Breach
- Could I Claim For A Care Worker Data Breach With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
- Find Out More About Healthcare Data Breaches
How To Claim For A Care Worker Data Breach
An organisation that decides why and how your personal information should be processed are called data controllers. Data controllers may also process your personal information. If they do not process your personal information themselves, then they can outsource this task to an alternate third party known as a data processor.
Two pieces of legislation outline the legal responsibility that data controllers and processors have to ensure that personal information is safely stored, handled, and processed. These are the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
If data controllers or processors fail to comply with these laws, this is known as wrongful conduct. Sometimes, wrongful conduct can lead to a personal data breach. Personal data breaches can be defined as a security incident that compromises the availability, confidentiality, and integrity of personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), an independent body upholding information rights within the UK, provides this definition of personal data breaches.
The criteria that must be met to have an eligible medical data breach compensation claim are established in Article 82 of the UK GDPR:
- Either the data controller or data processor did not comply with their responsibilities set out under data protection law.
- Due to this, your personal information was exposed in a data breach.
- From the breach, you suffered emotionally and/or financially.
Time Limits For Starting A Data Breach Claim
You are also only eligible to make a claim if you are within the data breach compensation claims time limit, which is:
- Typically, 6 years. Or,
- 1 year if your claim is against a public body.
Speak with our team as soon as possible to determine whether your potential claim for a care worker data breach is eligible and how long you have to start legal proceedings.
What Data Do Care Workers Have Access To?
Any information that can be used to identify who you are is personal data. For example, your:
- Name
- Postal address
- Email address
- Debit or credit card details
Some types of personal data are considered special category data. Special category data is information that is more sensitive and requires more protection. For example, data concerning your sexuality or sexual orientation, your health, such as medical data, or data revealing your racial origin or ethnicity.
These are all examples of personal data that care workers could have access to and could therefore be involved in a care worker data breach. For example, if a healthcare organisation failed to provide the care workers employed with them with data protection training, and they then went on to compromise the personal data of a patient, it could lead to the patient suffering financial loss and/or mental harm.
Please feel free to have a chat with our advisors about which of your specific personal information was compromised in a data breach.
Evidence Supporting Medical Data Breach Claims
Different types of evidence can prove that there was a failure to adhere to data protection laws. And, from this, your personal information was compromised in a breach, leading to you suffering financial and/or emotional damage.
Thus, here are the types of evidence you should try and provide:
- Correspondence between you and the organisation about the breach. This could include emails or a letter of notification. If a data breach has compromised your freedom and rights, the organisation has a duty to inform you of the breach without undue delay with a letter of notification. They also have a duty to inform the ICO that a data breach has occurred within 72 hours of them becoming aware that it happened.
- Findings from an ICO investigation. You can report the incident to the ICO if you haven’t had a response from the organisation or the response they provided was inadequate. The ICO may then choose to investigate. Their findings after the investigation can be used as evidence.
- Medical records that show how you have suffered psychologically since the data breach occurred. You could also keep a symptoms diary as evidence of your emotional effects following the data breach.
- Financial records that show the monetary impact the data breach has had on you, such as bank statements.
Our experienced solicitors can help you collect evidence as part of the services they provide if you are eligible to pursue compensation. If you get in touch, an advisor can offer further information on our solicitor’s services and may connect you if you have a valid claim for a care worker data breach.
Estimated Payouts For A Care Worker Data Breach
If you have a successful claim for a care worker data breach, you could receive compensation for up to two types of damage, called material and non-material damage. You do not need to have suffered both types of damage to receive data breach compensation.
Non-material damage is the psychological harm you have suffered due to your personal information being breached. For example, if you develop a mental health condition like emotional distress, anxiety, depression, or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) and medical evidence may be referred to while the value of your non-material damage is being calculated.
The JCG contains different types of psychiatric injuries and guideline compensation brackets for each.
Compensation Table
We have provided a table containing different types of psychological harm and their accompanying guideline compensation brackets. Except for the first row, all of the information has been taken from the JCG. Please remember that since all claims are unique, no specific amount of data breach compensation can be guaranteed for your case.
| Harm | Severity | Guideline compensation brackets | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very severe mental damage with significant financial losses | Very severe | Up to £150,000+ | Compensation for very severe mental health damage with substantial financial losses. This can include lost wages. |
| Psychiatric damage | Severe (a) | £54,830 to £115,730 | The person will have marked problems that have an impact on several areas of their life, including their ability to cope with work, their future vulnerability, and their relationships. Plus, the prognosis is very poor. |
| Moderately severe (b) | £19,070 to £54,830 | The person will have significant problems affecting multiple areas of life. However, the prognosis will be a bit more optimistic. | |
| Moderate (c) | £5,860 to £19,070 | There will be a marked improvement due to trial with the issues such as above. The prognosis will also be good. | |
| Less severe (d) | £1,540 to £5,860 | The extent to which sleep and daily activities are affected, plus the period of disability, will be considered for this award. | |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Severe (a) | £59,860 to £100,670 | Permanent effects to all aspects of the person's life will prevent them from working or functioning at anything like the pre-trauma level. |
| Moderately severe (b) | £23,150 to £59,860 | The effects will likely cause significant disability for the foreseeable future, however due to some recovery from professional help, the prognosis will be better. | |
| Moderate (c) | £8,180 to £23,150 | Continuing effects are not grossly disabling and there will be a large recovery. | |
| Less severe (d) | £3,950 to £8,180 | A virtually full recovery within 1-2 years with only minor symptoms lasting beyond this time. |
What Is Material damage In A Personal Data Breach Claim?
Material damage is the financial losses you have suffered due to your personal information being breached. For example, you may have suffered a loss of earnings because you needed time off work to recover from the stress of the data breach.
Providing evidence of the finances you have lost due to a personal data breach is essential. So, please keep hold of payslips, bank statements, and other documents that can help prove the losses.
For more information about how much data breach compensation could be given for a successful claim, contact our team.
Could I Claim For A Care Worker Data Breach With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
If you contact our team of advisors, you may be able to claim for a care worker data breach with us. If you do have an eligible data breach claim, you could be offered a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) by one of our No Win No Fee solicitors.
When you claim compensation with a CFA, you will not be asked to make upfront or ongoing payments for your solicitor’s services. Furthermore, these payments will not need to be made if your claim is unsuccessful.
On the other hand, if your medical data breach claim does end up successful, then there will be a success fee taken out of your compensation instead. A success fee is taken as a percentage. There is a maximum cap to what this percentage can be by law. So, you will receive the majority of the data breach compensation awarded to you.
Contact Our Team About Claiming For A Data Breach Today
Get in touch with our team today to potentially begin the data breach claims process. If they find you have a valid claim, they can connect you with one of our specialist data breach solicitors who can provide you with free legal advice if you are suffering emotionally and/or financially due to a data protection breach. Here are our contact details:
- Call 0800 073 8804.
- Enter your details on our online claims form.
- Type a message in our live chat box.
Find Out More About Healthcare Data Breaches
Here are some of our similar articles:
- Learn how to make a claim for a foster care data breach and what compensation could be awarded in a successful case.
- Find out when you might be eligible to make a data breach claim for children in care and how the claims process works.
- Discover how to make a private healthcare medical data breach claim after your personal data was compromised.
Here are a few external resources which may be of use to you:
- Advice from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on whether organisations need your consent to use your personal information.
- NHS guidance on where to find mental health services near you to receive support for psychological harm.
- Gov.UK information on the rights of data subjects regarding their personal information.
We hope that this guide on how to claim for a care worker data breach has been helpful to you. Please remember that our team can help to answer any questions if you call on the number above.
