Fears as GP's laptop stolen

A laptop containing confidential medical records of all 11,000 Wolverhampton patients at a city surgery has been stolen from a GP's house, police revealed today.

Names, dates of birth, addresses and contact details were all stored and unencrypted on the PC belonging to a doctor from Castlecroft Medical Practice.

Staffordshire Police were today hunting for the missing computer as health chiefs said they were "extremely concerned" by the security breach.

The details of when and where the laptop was taken from are not being released, but a helpline has been launched for worried patients and letters have been sent out to all of them.

Dr Peter Wagstaff, a senior partner at the practice, which has surgeries on Castlecroft Road and Tettenhall Road, said today: "We are extremely sorry for any distress or concern that it may cause our patients.

"Though not encrypted, the confidential information on the laptop was protected by a complex password system."