An investigation into the loss of maternity data at Nottingham University Hospitals has found that backup arrangements were not reviewed after an archive became the only remaining database copy.
The report, published ahead of the trust’s board meeting on Thursday 12 November, identifies weaknesses in technical checks, testing and the protection of older systems following the incident on 18 August 2026.
Four database files could not be recovered after a computer script intended for work on an unrelated clinical database was accidentally run against the Maternity Viewer database.
The main maternity data file survived because the process was stopped before it was overwritten.
NUH says the Maternity Viewer has been restored and core clinical information remains available to support patient care. However, it has not been possible to verify every historic record individually.
The principal continuing impact is the loss of historical audit information showing who accessed or changed maternity records. The trust says this may limit its ability to answer future questions about activity within the former system.
The affected archive held information from the Medway Maternity system, which NUH used between September 2011 and November 2022.
After moving to a replacement system, the trust developed the Maternity Viewer so clinicians could continue accessing historical information without retaining the old application and its associated costs.
The investigation found that the remaining archive database was not routinely covered by backup protection because replica databases were generally considered capable of being recreated from their original source.
However, that assumption was not revisited when the source environment was decommissioned, leaving the archive as the remaining database source.
The report states that “no protective actions were taken” following that change.
Investigators also found that the computer script had been adapted from an existing process but retained an incorrect database reference. It had not undergone peer review, and a representative testing environment was unavailable.
The investigation concluded that the incident resulted from several weaknesses interacting, rather than a single failure or the actions of one member of staff.
Although maternity information was affected, the report says the underlying weaknesses could potentially have affected other systems.
Following the incident, internal teams and external specialists attempted to recover the missing files. The Maternity Viewer returned to clinical use on 4 September.
Some document information was retrieved from other systems. Testing found that linked documents in the cases examined remained available through the Digital Health Record, although the trust could not fully quantify the position across all records.
Historical audit information remains largely unrecovered. Some previous extracts may still exist, but the report says these represent only a small proportion of the overall records.
NUH apologised in the board report, stating: “We recognise the importance and sensitivity of maternity information and regret both the loss of historic audit trail information and any concern or distress caused.”
The incident was reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The trust says work to recover or reconstruct historical audit information remains underway.
Immediate changes include stronger checking of technical scripts, improved backup coverage and safeguards against running processes on the wrong database.
NHS England’s external desktop review considered the trust’s analysis thorough and comprehensive, while recommending further attention to recovery arrangements alongside measures intended to prevent another incident.
Board members will be asked to note the findings and support a wider improvement programme.
