Ash Soni: Focusing on data breaches in pharmacy is 'bit odd'
The former president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has questioned why pharmacists face greater scrutiny for data breaches than other health professionals.
C+D reported on a study last month by consultancy company Accenture which suggested that personal medical information is "most likely" to be stolen from pharmacies.
Responding to a question from C+D on data breaches, while at the Avicenna conference in Wales on April 30, Ash Soni said "patient confidentiality is something that plays against us on occasions, as [it's] seen as something of a threat".
"As the professional responsibility of pharmacists, it's no different to any other healthcare professional," said Mr Soni, who is chair of London's local professional network for pharmacy.
"We don't seem to worry about [data breaches] for [GP] reception staff, so it seems a bit odd that a regulated profession seems to be held to a greater level of account than maybe others who are unregulated,” he added.
NHS Digital: “We'll need to up our game”
Mohammed Hussain, NHS Digital’s programme head for integrated pharmacy, told the conference that "pharmacies work really hard to have good [data] governance".
However, once pharmacies are “all connected” then “we need to up our game in terms of being aware of cyber risks and cyber security”.
Even then, the risk of data breaches will be “very low”, because the NHS is a "closed network" and “very secure”.
Pharmacists should also be aware how tools such as Skype could open pharmacies up to new potential for data breaches, he said. "We [must] start thinking about what's visible to someone on Skype; what can they hear while I'm skyping someone else?"
"Data doesn't have to be encoded in a hard drive, it can be conversations. We have to think more broadly," he added.
NHS faces cyber attack
Last Friday (May 12), a number of NHS organisations in England and Scotland were affected by a global cyber attack.
The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee said while "this attack was not specifically targeted at the NHS", pharmacies should be wary of suspicious emails and attachments.
GPs and GP pharmacists took to Twitter to report how the 'ransomware' attack was impacting their services.
Some alarming details of the impact of the NHS 'cyber attack' from @pulsetoday here https://t.co/7FJzYWRLMb pic.twitter.com/JszMhfDT5f
— Steve Nowottny (@stevenowottny) May 12, 2017
Thinking of all healthcare colleagues who are struggling to ensure pt care continues- seeing multiple posts like this. #nhscyberattack pic.twitter.com/ZMA4i6T5Oc
— Pharmthorrun (@pharmthorrun) May 15, 2017
In work early and dusting this off as I reckon I'll be using it a fair bit today #CyberAttack #GPPharmacists pic.twitter.com/mOf3jp8UdI
— Ben (@bkhannan) May 15, 2017
From @SDCCG chair: all Southern Derbyshire GPs being advised to NOT switch computers on, Monday morning, until given the all clear by SDCCG
— Derbyshire LMC (@DerbyLMC) May 14, 2017
It is the same in Notts. GPs will not be able to access your notes or your blood results. Please be patient while IT sorts the problem. https://t.co/uP7jCvxKad
— Mark Folman (@d0ct0revil) May 14, 2017
GPs systems still down. Patients being referred to community clinical pharmacists despite government plans to close them
— Tony Schofield (@tony_schofield) May 15, 2017
Is your pharmacy prepared to fend off cyber crime? Get top tips in C+D's latest feature here
Have you been affected by the NHS cyber attack?