MTAS and other NHS websites

[Peter Sommer]

Peter Tomlinson asks:  


>Putting it another way, if Channel4 was simply given a URL and nothing 
>else, could they access the data during its window of availability?


The answer is "yes", that is exactly what happened - and there was no
password protection on the excel files.

It is interesting to learn from Vicky that:

> The main /info folder was used for semi-public information. It wasn't
> openly advertised, but must have been intended for use by Deaneries  
> and other Interested Parties. The directory could be listed, so it 
> was  easy to see when new fles were uploaded. 

This tells me that the MTAS contract was handed out to a bunch of
incompetents.  Aa you may have seen from the Channel 4 News item
yesterday (Friday):  DoH/NHS paid very handsomely for what is in essence
a very small simple databases service.

The junior doctors are p*ssed off at the mess to their career plans -
the rest of us angry about the waste of public funds and deep-set
incompetence.    And when the Ministers say that they have called in
security consultants (who after all can only secure an otherwise
well-run system) instead of reviewing the entire procurement process,
we get even angrier.


Peter Sommer