Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust (BSUH) had initially vowed to fight the ICO’s £325,000 fine, which was levied after hard drives containing patient data were sold on an internet auction site.
The trust’s decision to pay meant that a discount applied, bringing the amount of the penalty down to £260,000.
In a statement, BSUH’s interim chief executive Chris Adcock said: “We have made repeated attempts over the past six months.... to reach a settlement that recognised that errors were made but no harm arose, all of which have been rejected by the Information Commissioner’s Office.
“The fine is a staggering amount of money given that there was no loss of data, we informed the ICO at the time, co-operated throughout with them, the police and Crown Prosecution Service and recovered everything.”
Adcock added: “There is, however, nothing more odious than one public body having a public argument with another at the taxpayer’s expense. We are not prepared to incur further costs and are therefore paying the ICO £260,000.”
Local Government Lawyer understands that another case where an NHS trust is appealing the imposition of a monetary penalty by the ICO is still continuing.
Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust said in May that it had instructed lawyers to challenge the £90,000 fine imposed after data from a palliative care unit was faxed on a number of occasions to the wrong recipient.
The case will be the first legal challenge to a monetary penalty issued by the ICO under s. 55A of the Data Protection Act 1988.
Philip Hoult