By Jo Greenwood. Last Updated 16th April 2025. Welcome to our guide looking at what could be an NHS data breach. In this article, we’re going to look at data breach compensation UK and data breach compensation examples including those for NHS staff data breaches.
You’ve no doubt heard about the UK General Data Protection Regulation, referred to by its acronym UK GDPR. It was a new law established in 2018 by the European Union. The Data Protection Act 2018 enacted it into law in this country. The purpose of the new law is to give you more control over your personal data and when organisations can hold it.
Legal Expert can support you through a data breach claim. We start by providing a non-obligatory telephone assessment of the claim you’re thinking of making. The advisor will give you free legal advice and could connect you with a specialist solicitor from our panel if your claim has the potential to succeed. Importantly, if your claim is accepted, your solicitor will provide their services on a No Win No Fee basis.
Read on to learn how you may be able to claim against the NHS for a data breach with evidence before calling our specialist advisors on 0800 0703 8804 today.
Select A Section
- Can I Claim Compensation For An NHS Data Breach?
- How Can The NHS Breach Data Protection Laws?
- Have Any NHS Organisations Been Fined By The ICO?
- Steps To Take If You Have Been The Victim Of An NHS Data Breach
- Compensation Payouts In Data Breach Claims
- NHS Data Breach Compensation Claims And No Win No Fee Solicitors
- Call Our Team To Claim For An NHS Data Breach
- Extra Resources On Claiming NHS Data Breach Compensation
Can I Claim Compensation For An NHS Data Breach?
When discussing claiming compensation for an NHS data breach, there are 3 parties that need to be considered. These are:
- Data subjects: the living identifiable individuals whose personal data is being handled.
- Data controllers: organisations that decide when, how and why your personal data is to be processed in any way, such as handling it or storing it. For the purposes of our guide, the data controller would be the NHS.
- Data processors: external organisations that are contracted by data controllers to provide processing services. We should point out that not every data controller will share their data with an external processor.
Under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act, data controllers and processors both have obligations to keep your personal information safe. Failure to uphold these standards can result in personal data breaches.
The eligibility criteria for starting a data breach compensation claim are as follows:
- The data controller or processor failed to uphold their legal duties as outlined by UK law.
- These failures resulted in the breach of your personal data.
- You experienced psychological distress, financial harm or both as a result of this.
To inquire further about making a claim for a data breach against the NHS, or for a free assessment of your eligibility, contact our advisors today.
How Long Do I Have To Claim Compensation For An NHS Data Breach?
Your name, date of birth and details of any medical conditions you may have could be collected and stored by the NHS. Data breach compensation claims could be made when the organisation processing this data fails to protect it. However, the claims process must be started within the time limit.
This is generally six years from the date you were notified of the incident for a medical data breach. However, if the claim is made against a public body, this is reduced to one year.
Should an NHS data breach compromise your personal data, you may want to know about your potential options. Reach out to one of our advisors to discuss your possible next steps.
Will Making An NHS Data Breach Compensation Claim Impact The Healthcare Service?
Some people may worry that in making a claim against the NHS it will impact frontline healthcare services. However, this isn’t the case. Organisations such as the NHS are prepared for these potential incidents and have cover in place to meet the costs. So if you decide to make a claim for the breach of your data, this is something you don’t need to worry about.
An advisor could help answer your questions about claiming compensation for an NHS data breach.
How Can The NHS Breach Data Protection Laws?
Despite the relative youth of the UK GDPR, data controllers should nevertheless have sufficient measures in place to ensure the security of the data they are handling, and the NHS is no exception.
A data controller, therefore, should have adequate physical and cybersecurity in place, staff should receive regular and up-to-date data protection training and a robust action plan should be implemented in the event of a breach.
We have given some examples of how a data breach by the NHS may occur here:
- Your patient notes were accessed by NHS staff who had no professional reason to do so.
- Administrative errors resulted in your STI screening details being sent to the wrong person.
- A failure to update cybersecurity software meant that cyber criminals were able to access the personal data of several hundred patients.
These scenarios are by no means the only circumstances where you could claim compensation for an NHS data breach. For a free eligibility assessment or to ask any questions you may have, contact our advisory team today using the details given above.
Do I Need Evidence To Claim Compensation For An NHS Data Breach?
Yes, you need evidence in order to claim compensation. When you make any kind of claim, it’s your responsibility to prove that it was caused by wrongful conduct and that you suffered harm as a result.
For example, you could use evidence such as:
- A letter of notification from the NHS, confirming the instance of a breach, including your data
- Reports from a counsellor or psychiatrist illustrating the impact on your mental health
- Bank statements or other financial records that show the financial effects that the breach has had on you
- Complaints made to the ICO, or the results of an ICO investigation into the breach
We understand that this can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. If you choose to seek compensation for the breach of your data with an experienced solicitor, they can help you support your case with evidence. Call an advisor from our team today to learn more.
Have Any NHS Organisations Been Fined By The ICO?
Legal Expert has conducted some research on NHS data breach claims and our findings have been summarised here:
- In the year 2022/23, data breach incidents in the UK have jumped 21%. This equates to 1,607 incidents in 2022 in the healthcare sector, rising to 1,949 in 2023.
- All NHS trusts responded to our Freedom of Information (FOI) request regarding data breaches in healthcare. This information shows that a total of 897 data breach incidents took place between the financial years of 2020/21 to 2022/23. Roughly half of these incidents (418) saw the affected data subjects receiving compensation.
- Over the last 3 years, 20 NHS trusts have paid out thousands of pounds in compensation. You can find specific data on your local NHS trust by clicking the link above.
You can learn more about making a claim by talking to our advisory team today.
Steps To Take If You Have Been The Victim Of An NHS Data Breach
If you have been the victim of an NHS data breach, there are steps you can take to limit its impact on you and benefit a potential claim. These include:
- Changing your passwords for any accounts that may have been compromised
- Monitoring your finances (you may wish to use a credit monitoring service)
- Reporting any suspicious transactions to your bank
- Keep a copy of any written communication you have regarding the breach (the NHS may send out a notification letter to confirm which pieces of your data may have been impacted by the breach)
- If the NHS do not contact you, contact them to confirm the breach
- Be wary of suspicious calls, emails and messages, as these could be phishing scams
Following these steps may make it easier to avoid suffering further due to the data breach. You may also wish to research the process of seeking compensation for a data breach claim. This is a great way to recover the financial losses you may have incurred due to the psychological injury you have experienced.
Our solicitors offer great services to assist with your claim through a fee arrangement that does not require you to pay upfront or ongoing fees. You can contact our advisory team if you would like to find out more information.
Compensation Payouts In Data Breach Claims
Compensation payouts could be up to or even exceed £500,000 if you make a successful data breach claim that includes both material and non-material damage.
Firstly, if you have suffered material damage, such as needing to relocate due to a breach of your personal data or a loss of earnings due to taking time away from work after suffering a subsequent mental injury, you could be compensated for this.
Secondly, if you have suffered non-material damage such as depression, stress or anxiety, this too can be compensated. We’ve included a table using figures from the 17th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) below. The JCG provides guideline amount brackets for different psychological injuries. We’ve also provided a figure in the top row to show you how you could be awarded compensation for both types of damage in the same claim. This figure was not taken from the JCG.
| Type of Claim | Severity | Compensation Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Very Mental Injury Along With Significant Financial Losses | Very Severe | Up to £500,000 and above |
| General Psychiatric Harm | Severe (a) | £66,920 - £141,240 |
| Moderately Severe (b) | £23,270 - £66,920 | |
| Moderate (c) | £7,150 - £23,270 | |
| Less Severe (d) | £1,880 - £7,150 | |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Severe (a) | £73,050 - £122,850 |
| Moderately Severe (b) | £28,250 - £73,050 | |
| Moderate (c) | £9,980 - £28,250 | |
| Less Severe (d) | £4,820 - £9,980 |
To find out if you could make a claim following the breach of your personal data, call our advisors today for a free case assessment.
NHS Data Breach Compensation Claims And No Win No Fee Solicitors
Claiming data breach compensation is not without its hurdles. The burden of proof is on you, the claimant, to prove that you’ve suffered harm due to the exposure of your personal data. Many people turn to data breach solicitors to assist them. The good news is, you don’t have to pay upfront fees to obtain assistance from a data breach solicitor.
Through the Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), a data breach solicitor could represent your claim without taking any payment unless your claim ends successfully, and your medical data breach compensation comes through. These are what are often called No Win No Fee claims. Should your claim not end with a compensation payout, your solicitor would not take a fee from you. You would not have to cover their costs in pursuing your claim either.
A success fee will be deducted from your compensation if you gain compensation. The percentage is legally capped, and cannot exceed this amount. This means you would always receive the majority of the payout.
We could help assess whether you could make a claim with one of our data breach solicitors. speak with us today using the contact information provided below.
Call Our Team To Claim For An NHS Data Breach
If you’ve decided you’d like to proceed and would like the support of Legal Expert, here are the best ways to get in touch:
- Call our specialist advisors to discuss your claim for free on 0800 073 8804
- Email us with information about the data breach to info@legalexpert.co.uk.
- Fill out our contact us form and we’ll arrange to call you back.
- Ask an online advisor for claims advice using our online chat system.
Please remember, we’ll provide free advice on your options even if you don’t go on to claim.
Extra Resources On Claiming NHS Data Breach Compensation
In this final section of our article on what is an NHS data breach, we’ve linked to some additional guides and resources that you might find helpful.
- Misdiagnosis Claims – Read about how you may be able to claim if you are harmed by a medical misdiagnosis.
- Legal Expert Reviews – Read feedback from some of our previous clients.
- NHS Complaints Procedure – The official route to complaining about NHS services.
- ICO Action – Recent information on legal action taken by the ICO.
We’d like to thank you for taking the time to read our guide to claiming compensation for an NHS data breach. To check if you’re eligible to claim, or to ask any questions you may have, talk to an advisors today using the contact information provided above.
