A portable hard drive containing sensitive data about 45,000 patients has been lost from a Crystal Palace rehabilitation centre.

Affected patients are angry they were only told about the data loss last week, despite the hard drive going missing in January.

The lost drive was being used as part of a one off project to transfer past and present patient data onto a new IT system at the Bowley Close rehabilitation centre.

It contains thousands of Lambeth residents' details. Everyone affected was notified by letter.

The drive contained the name, address, telephone number and a brief description of 45,000 patients' diagnosis explaining the medical need for a wheelchair, prosthetic limbs or splints.

Southwark PCT, which is in charge of running the centre, said the lost data did not include patients clinical records.

The hard drive went missing from a locked cupboard in a secure area that is not normally accessible to the public.

A spokesman for Southwark PCT said they did not tell patients straight away because they wanted to conclude their investigations before notifying patients.

He said he was satisfied the use of a portable hard drive to transfer the data for a one off project means that this was an exceptional incident.

It is not known what happened to the drive.

A Lambeth resident, who did not wish to be named, said he was furious it had taken 6 months to tell him about the security breach.

A Lambeth PCT spokesman apologised for any distress the situation had caused patients.

Susanna White, Chief Executive of Southwark PCT also apologised and said she was satisfied this was a one off incident.

She added: "We have reviewed our procedures to tighten controls and minimise the chances of this kind of incident happening again."

If you are currently a patient at Bowley Close and have not received a letter it means your data has not been lost.

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