NHS admits transplant patient data sent via unencrypted pagers

Imagine doctors needed a quick way to tell each other important things about people waiting for organ transplants.

They used old pagers, little beepers from the 1980s that can receive short messages but cannot send replies.

But the messages included people's names, birthdays and health details, and they were not protected with a secret code.

That means other people might have been able to see them.

The NHS said it was very sorry and stopped sending private information this way.

It also told the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK office that protects people's data.

This was surprising because the NHS was asked years ago to stop using pagers.

The problem was not only about transplants — ambulances, hospitals and fire services also sent sensitive information through the same system.

Nobody knows for sure if anyone outside the hospitals ever saw the messages, and that is why people are worried.