Wednesday, April 25, 2007

And Finally...

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse… Channel 4 news reported that if you want the name, address, personal details, telephone number, race, religion, police records and even sexual orientation of any MMC doctor applicant... their details were all exposed via the on-line recruitment system. For the rest of the story read here.

16 comments:

Dr Andrew Brown said...

But don't let this minor mishap dissuade you from agreeing to allow your personal medical records to be uploaded to the "spine". ;-)

Unknown said...

We have been treated so badly. It's fairly clear that security breaches for the other applications via MTAS will have also occurred. Can you imagine what would happen if minister's details - address, sexuality, religion etc had been made public?

Dr Michelle Tempest said...

Thanks Dr Andrew Brown.
Thanks Rupert - I agree that the security breaches are likely to be widespread via such an application service.
Thanks to all the doctors who are contributing to the on line and blogging debate.
Michelle

Anonymous said...

It just gets worse..

Anonymous said...

How can this government screw its IT system up so badly, what other private informaiton is in the public domain that we are unaware of?

Rupert, I think Patricia Hewitt's personal details should be published - there are lots of questions she needs to answer.

Ian Lidster said...

Shades of George Orwell!

Ian

QUASAR9 said...

How can people in India
have your namd, address, phone number and know who you bank with.

That is why I never give blood
You don't know if you're being DNA profiled - as a potentional donor
for organ harvesting.

Mind you I never register with a GP either - never needed one. lol!

Eliza said...

Hi Michelle, Great blog, thanks.

i'm applying for post grad medicine with a view to be a psychiatrist so i shall be keeping a close eye on this site!.

eiza. x

James Higham said...

Seethe.

Garth Marenghi said...

it's appalling,
now mtas are claiming that specialist trainees and gp trainees have not been affected!

They were, the email accounts of everyone were open and unprotected!

Anonymous said...

Yes, seethe, and let's keep up the pressure.

JoeBlogs said...

Hi Dr I like your site. I write a comedy blog, I wondered if you wanted to take part in an interview to highlight your site. My blog is http://mrjoeblogs.blogspot.com. The questions are as follows :

Name :
Age :
Location :
Vocation :
Philosophy :

Sum up what your blog is about.
Why are you doing your blog?
What’s the funniest entry on your site?
What is your writing style?
What do people commonly say about your site?
What would you be doing if you weren’t doing your blog?
Why should someone visit your site?
What did you learn from your first love?
Are there any blogs, you enjoy reading?
If you could invite anyone to a dinner party who would it be and why?
Tell us about a good deed you have done recently.
Tell us a random funny story that comes to mind.
What advice would you have given yourself 5 years ago?
Any interesting travel stories?
What would you put in action if you were running the NHS?
As a psychiatrist, what advice would you give to the general public on living healthier mental lives?
Do you have any strong opinions you would like to debate with me?
What’s the most incredible thing that ever happened to you?
Now it’s your turn! Ask me one question, anything you like.
Your Site Address :

Kind Regards
Joe Blogs

(please include any picture at all that you want to add to the interview)

simon said...

What a joke! ;O/

simon said...

oops not what joe blogs said....... I mean what the government has done! ( sorry mate!)

Man in a Shed said...

I saw the TV article on this (Channel 4 I think) and the security errors were basic and pedestrian.

I think the underlying question has to be why are such incompetent people be being employed by the relevant contractors ? Could it be that they are charging people out at high rates - but not employing people who know their business - and hence are cheaper to employ ?

Really the mistakes described are very very basic. You have to wonder how the project is being controlled by the contractor and the government.

By the way why are religion and sexual orientation being recorded on job applications ?

Dr Michelle Tempest said...

Thanks Ellee, Ian, Eliza, James, Gareth, JoeBlogs, Simon and Quasar9.