Praxis Care Isle of Man provides a range of services to individuals with learning disabilities and mental health conditions on the Island, many of which are provided under contract to the Department of Social Care. In August Praxis Care informed the Department that one of its staff was unable to find a memory stick used to transfer information from one computer to another. This information includes personal data relating to some individual service users as well as some staff from both Praxis Care and the Department. Since the initial notification in August the Department and Praxis Care have worked together to comprehensively identify the information that has been lost and then undertake suitable actions to address the data loss. As a result it has been established that 107 service users and staff in the Isle of Man are affected. The information ranges from basic details (such as name and address) in most cases through to more sensitive care records in a minority of cases. The professionals responsible for the care of the affected service users have assessed the impact for each of the service users affected, then carefully planned how the affected individuals (and/or their families where appropriate) should be informed to ensure they receive both the information and appropriate support. Praxis Care and the Department have spent the last three days notifying the affected individuals in the Isle of Man. As of 2pm Friday 14th October, 99 out of the 107 people affected have been successfully notified, a large proportion face to face. All service users and carers involved have also received a letter detailing their individual loss plus an unreserved apology. By the end of today (Friday) it is anticipated that 5 more individuals will have been notified bringing the total to 104; the remaining 3 individuals will be notified when circumstances allow or when they are available. As a result, other Praxis Care IOM service users – both past and current – who have not already been contacted can be reassured that they are not affected. All other services users of Social Services are also unaffected and so need not be concerned. Praxis Care has set up a helpline which will be open daily from 9am today until 5pm on Tuesday 18 October. The helpline number is 0800 206 1471 and the opening hours are 9am to 5pm including Saturday and Sunday. Anyone who is still concerned whether they are affected or anyone who knows they are affected and wishes to ask further questions are welcome to call. The Department is giving priority to the health and well being of those affected and will continue to provide appropriate support as need dictates. Praxis Care Chief Executive Nevin Ringland said: “We apologise unreservedly to those individuals affected by the loss of this memory stick. Praxis Care is committed to providing high quality support services to people with mental health problems and people with learning disabilities. We have already put changes in place to significantly reduce the risk of this happening again. We would like to reassure people there has been no indication that the memory stick has fallen into the hands of a third party.” Department of Social Care Chief Executive Chris Corlett added: “On behalf of the Department, may I add my apologies for the distress caused to the service users and staff affected. The Department’s professionals responsible for the care of the affected service users have worked hard to ensure that the individuals are informed of the loss in the most appropriate way and to ensure support is then available. The Department and its third sector partners provide services to over 2,500 individuals with mental health conditions and/or learning disabilities, many of whom may be concerned to hear of this data loss and are worried to know whether they are affected. May I reiterate that if you have not already been contacted then your information has not been lost. It is vital that current and prospective service users are confident that their personal information will be protected, both by the Department and its third sector partners. Therefore in addition to addressing this specific data loss, the Department has instigated a review of all procedures relating to information security for both our own staff and also for the third sector organisations which work closely with the Department to provide vital care to thousands of people in our community. I recognise ISO27001:2005 as best practice in information security and the Department will work toward this standard. I am grateful for the assistance of the Data Protection Supervisor and the Government Information Security Officer both in relation to this specific data loss and for their assistance as the Department seeks to ensure the information security measures of the Department and its third sector partners are fully effective.” The memory stick is approximately 2.5 inches by 1 inch in size, silver in colour with the brand name ‘Verbatim’ written in black. If found, please return to Praxis Care at 35 Hope Street, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 1AR, alternatively telephone (01624) 619803. - Ends -