NUH Says Patient Data Loss Did Not Affect Care as Police Investigate Wider Maternity Case

Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) says a recent loss of patient data did not affect current patient care and that no patient information was accessed or used inappropriately.

“No patient information was accessed or used inappropriately as a result of this incident,” NUH said in a blog post.

Andy Callow, NUH’s chief digital information officer, said the hospital had completed an investigation into the patient safety incident. NUH has also taken unspecified steps to strengthen its “technical controls and processes to prevent a similar incident from happening again.”

“I am sorry for the worry and pain this incident has caused the victim and her family,” Callow said in a statement accompanying the blog post.

Police investigate NUH data loss

The announcement comes as NUH faces a wider police investigation into allegations that more than 500 mothers and infants experienced “possibly avoidable” harm or died because of systemic failures.

The allegations stem from an investigation into the hospital’s obstetrics department, led by a senior midwife and released in June. Reported failures included understaffing, inadequate employee training and not listening to parents’ concerns, according to the BBC.

A police investigation reported in June 2025 found that files containing the records of hundreds of NUH obstetric patients may have been deleted “intentionally or maliciously.” NUH restored the data several days after the deletion, the BBC reported.

Nottinghamshire Police are now investigating whether the recent data loss is connected to the wider case involving maternity-care injuries and deaths, and whether criminal charges should be brought. Police are also working to recover lost data, the BBC reported.

According to the BBC, Deputy Constable Rob Griffin, one of the leaders of the investigation, said: “No crime has been identified at this time.”

Families express concern over missing records

The Nottingham Maternity Family Group, which represents some of the families affected by the wider investigation, described the reported data losses as “deeply disturbing.”

“Families who have already experienced preventable harm, injury or bereavement do not need to worry about the security of recording their experiences,” the group said in a statement, according to the BBC.