Vendors have started to provide customers with assurances that they are in compliance with security standards and patient-privacy laws, he says, and the advantages of cloud storage are likely to be increasingly persuasive, especially on the cost side.

WSJ: Hospitals Struggle to Store Images From MRIs, CT Scans and More

Under the particular circumstances of this case, and in compliance with GMC guidelines, the doctor considered it necessary to breach his patient's confidentiality and inform the wife, in order to protect her from a risk of serious harm.

BBC: When do you break a patient's confidence?