NHS data breach helpline staff faced 'significant emotional burden', review finds
Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust apologises after accidental exposure of sickness records affecting more than 8,000 people
NHS staff assigned to a helpline after colleagues' health data was exposed online faced distressed callers, safeguarding concerns and a 'serious emotional impact', while receiving little training or support, a review has found. The report, published nearly a year after the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust disclosed the breach, highlights how call handlers were drafted in at short notice and sometimes learned their own data had been exposed while already on duty.