The personal details of nearly 18,000 NHS staff in London have gone missing in the post.
Four computer discs containing the details of 17,990 current and former staff were lost in July when they were sent between Whittington Hospital NHS Trust and McKesson, a firm providing payroll IT services.
The discs contained the name, date of birth, national insurance number, start date and pay details of all staff and the addresses of some staff. They did not contain personal bank account details, according to the trust.
Staff and former workers at Whittington Hospital NHS Trust, Islington Primary Care Trust, Camden Primary Care Trust and Camden and Islington NHS Foundation Trust are affected.
Whittington Hospital NHS Trust said the discs had a "separate alpha-numeric password on them which unless found by expert hackers are very difficult to break."
The trust said the discs went missing when an envelope they were in was placed in a post tray marked recorded delivery on July 22. But there was no record of the discs being sent.
It said police have been informed but advised that the incident should be treated as a loss with minimal risk to staff.
A statement from David Sloman, chief executive of the trust, said an investigation was being carried out and a member of staff had been suspended.
It was the first time information had been sent through the post, he added.
He said: "It is trust policy to send any such information by courier. An investigation is underway. In the meantime, a member of staff has been suspended."
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David means that is the first time that he knows information was sent in the post (mail).
I have a feeling that it has happened before....this is just the first time that everyone has looked into the process.
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