The Labour Government has yet again demonstrated their incompetence at data handling and exposed the private and intimate details of junior doctors online for the whole world to see. The blunder was uncovered by Channel 4 News.

In light of the story we sought out other details about this breach:

1. The company involved in the breach - Methods Consulting

2. Their Remit - the creation, setup, implementation and maintenance of the MTAS system. 

3.  The system's set up costs -  £1.9million in 2006-07

4.  The estimated running costs -  £6.3million over 5 years

5. Is it Shelved - according to reports yes the government shelved it with immediate effect. In reality it was re-opened in May for round 1 applications and to support national monitoring.

6. How did a flawed system come back online - Methods consulting paid for the security enhancements

7. After this serious breach who is now in charge of this project - Methods Consulting

6. Did staff get compensated for this Data Breach - Not that we know of

7. Did the Department sue or have intentions of suing Methods Consulting - No

Conclusion

After having spent £1.9million in respect of contracted services already delivered, and despite undertaking to the public that this system had been scrapped, it is alive and well and consuming even more public money. The exact cost is not yet known.

It appears that there is no intention to sue Methods Consulting, nor to compensate junior doctors for breaches in their personal data. During the latter part of 2007 the House of Commons were still investigating this matter, for more information go to www.parliament.uk and enter into the search field Methods Consulting - you will get a list of relevant documents.

Our view: This government has again shown its foolishness in handling personal data, well our personal data, never their own. What a Carry On!