Health bosses have pledged to contact every patient affected by a data breach at the Orthopaedic Hospital.

The hospital trust discovered at the end of last month that some data of up to 2,500 patients taking part in a long-standing study have been shared without their consent.

The matter was reported to the Information Commissioner and an internal investigation has established some information was shared with a medical component manufacturer.

This study, which began in 2006, was set up to monitor the outcomes for patients of procedures using these particular components.

Mark Brandreth, chief executive, said: “This is not acceptable and we will be writing to those patients affected to apologise for processing data in this way.

“The trust takes the protection of its patients’ data extremely seriously and regrets this breach. A full investigation is under way to establish how it has occurred and ensure that measures are taken to prevent anything similar from happening in the future.

“It is a patient’s right to decide how their data is used and therefore it is important for the trust to be clear whether a patient is happy for their data to continue to be processed in this way or whether they wish to withdraw from the study

“To that end, we will be writing to patients who may be affected to understand their wishes in the coming weeks. Once again I would wish to apologise to any patient affected.”

The data shared may have included the initial and surname of some patients, as well as their hospital number and limited extracts of clinical information relevant to the study, for example clinical measurements.

No patient case notes have been shared.

Anyone concerned that they might be affected can contact the hospital’s Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) by calling 01691 404606 or emailing PALS.office@rjah.nhs.uk