The data scandals are continuing to embarrass ministers after nine NHS trusts admitted losing patients' details.

The Tories are questioning the validity of the new IT system for the health service.

It follows anger at the loss of child benefit claimants' details by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and those of three million learner drivers by a DVLA contractor.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: "This is further evidence of the Government's failure to protect the personal information which we provide.

"Following the HMRC and DVLA failures we will need further steps on the part of the Department of Health to show how their planned electronic patients' database will protect our medical records."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Norman Lamb said: "The whole culture of data management in the public sector has to change."

Some 168,000 people are thought to have been affected by the breaches of strict data protection rules by the nine health trusts.

Richard Vautrey, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association's GPs' committee, suggested the Government was not serious enough about data security.

"Patients need to be absolutely confident that the information that is held securely cannot be lost in some haphazard way," he said.

He said the development was especially worrying given the Government's plans for a centralised NHS computer network, Connecting for Health, featuring every patient's records.

Dr Vautrey added: "It's vitally important that any development of centralised systems is done in a careful and measured way."

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