A privacy watchdog is taking action against a Brent health trust after two laptops containing information about patients were stolen.
The laptops were swiped from Brent Teaching Primary Care Trust in January last year and contained data about 389 patients.
The laptops were stored in a locked office but had been left out on a desk in breach of the trust's own security procedures.
The equipment was not encrypted and contained sensitive information, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said.
The ICO has asked the trust to sign a formal Undertaking agreement requiring it to change the way it processes information in line with the Data Protection Act.
The tPCT will now have to make sure staff are adequately trained and will encrypt portable and mobile devices used to store and transmit information.
Mick Gorrill, assistant information commissioner at the ICO, said: "Whilst the number of people affected was relatively small, some people's sensitive health information was contained on the stolen laptops. I am increasingly concerned about the way some NHS organisations are transferring sensitive records into laptops and other mobile devices that are not encrypted.
"Organisations need to ensure they implement appropriate safeguards to ensure personal details about patients are processed securely."
Failure to meet the terms of the Undertaking is likely to lead to further enforcement action by the ICO.
