Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust, which operates City Hospital, has disclosed that maternity records spanning more than a decade were accidentally overwritten during routine IT work on 18 August 2026. The incident, caused by human error during a technical process, has prompted Nottinghamshire Police to assess its potential impact on an ongoing investigation into deaths and injuries at the trust's maternity services.
The overwritten records affected women and babies who received care between September 2011 and November 2022. Although clinical information has since been restored, the trust has been unable to recover the complete audit trail showing which staff members accessed individual maternity records during that 11-year period.
This data loss represents the latest in a series of incidents at a trust already under intense scrutiny following a landmark review published in June that documented more than 500 cases in which mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm or died due to what the review described as
deeply embedded systemic failures.
How did the data loss occur?
The incident happened while staff were creating a backup copy of a radiotherapy database. According to the trust's account, a configuration setting that should have been modified before running a set of pre-written computer instructions was overlooked. As a result, the automated process executed against the maternity database instead, causing records to be overwritten.
Andy Callow, chief digital and information officer at NUH, stated:
I am sorry for the concern and distress this incident may cause to women and families affected. On 18 August 2026, a human error during a routine technical process resulted in a maternity records database being unintentionally overwritten. We took immediate action to investigate the incident and recover the affected information.
What information has been recovered?
The trust has successfully restored the clinical data required for ongoing patient care, including clinical notes, observations and test results. However, according to reporting on the incident, the complete audit history showing who accessed individual maternity records between September 2011 and November 2022 cannot be fully reconstructed. This means the trust may be unable to confirm in most cases whether a particular person viewed a specific maternity record during that period.
The trust has confirmed that information relating to current maternity patients was not affected by the incident, and that no patient information was accessed or used inappropriately following the data loss.
What is the police investigation assessing?
Nottinghamshire Police has been notified and is evaluating whether the incident has any bearing on Operation Perth, the investigation into deaths and injuries linked to maternity care at Nottingham City Hospital and Queen's Medical Centre. Deputy Chief Constable Rob Griffin, gold commander for Operation Perth, said:
At present, no crime has been identified. We have received a report from the individual concerned and have spoken with them.
He added:
Further assessment is ongoing, and we are awaiting analysis of the digital process that was used. In relation to recovery, we are awaiting a copy of the database, before any further attempts can be made. We anticipate receiving this during the course of the week.
According to police statements, the overall impact on Operation Perth remains under assessment, with a fuller update expected once outstanding analysis and recovery work is completed.
How does this relate to earlier data incidents?
This is not the first data loss incident affecting the trust's maternity records. A separate police investigation last year examined a missing data file containing details of hundreds of maternity cases and concluded it was most likely deleted either intentionally or maliciously. That earlier incident raised questions about data security and record integrity at the trust during a period when the maternity scandal was already under intense investigation.
What are families saying?
The Nottingham Maternity Family Group, which represents many people affected by the wider maternity scandal, described the latest incident as
extremely unnerving. The group issued a statement saying:
Families who have already endured preventable harm, injury and bereavement should not also have to worry about the security of the records of their experiences. The ability to trust NHS professionals to look after both patients and their data is paramount, but far too many Nottingham families feel that the NUH has fallen short of this. With each new incident, the trauma of what we have faced is compounded and the confidence and trust we have in the trust is further eroded.
The group welcomed the involvement of both the Information Commissioner's Office and police in investigating whether criminal offences occurred, why the data was deleted, and whether patients' rights and privacy were unlawfully compromised.
What steps are being taken to prevent future incidents?
The trust has notified the Information Commissioner's Office and stated it has implemented measures to improve its technical processes and prevent similar incidents from occurring in future. However, specific details about these preventive measures have not been disclosed.
What happens next?
Police said they are awaiting a copy of the database before attempting further recovery work, with the expectation of receiving it during the week following the announcement. Once that database is received and analysis of the digital processes is completed, investigators will be in a better position to determine the full impact on Operation Perth and provide families with a comprehensive update on the incident's significance to the wider investigation.
Key Facts
- Maternity records for women and babies treated between September 2011 and November 2022 were overwritten on 18 August 2026 during routine IT work at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Clinical information has been restored, but the audit trail showing who accessed individual records during the 11-year period cannot be fully recovered
- Nottinghamshire Police is assessing whether the incident affects Operation Perth, the investigation into maternity-related deaths and injuries at the trust
- This follows a June 2026 review that found more than 500 mothers and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm or died due to systemic failures at the trust
- A previous police investigation concluded that an earlier missing maternity data file was most likely deleted intentionally or maliciously
