Southport victims medical records accessed

[Vanden Saab]

There are no words

48 staff accessed victims medical records in the days following the attack. The victims were not told for 2 years.

https://www.bordertelegraph.com/news/national/2610...

[butchstewie]

Heard about this on the radio.

No excuses.

I'd like to know what is happening to the people that did it.

[oddman]

No excuses but I suspect this is much more common than most would think

Each individual probably thinks they are the only one who thinks 'I'll have a look' overriding ethical considerations, training and common sense. Something impulsive and stupid.

I know of a high profile case where staff accessed records out of curiosity. CEO insisted that the miscreants be dismissed but on finding that they'd lose a significant proportion of the consultant body, rowed back.

There are many low profile cases that wider access than is clinically necessary because of the curiosity of the case. eg the CT of a man shot shot himself in the head with a crossbow bolt seen by more clinicians than those directly involved. A bit more discipline in managing this type of behaviour would help reduce inappropriate access across the board.

What is really inexcusable is a two year delay informing those whose records were accessed. Our IT services detected some irregular activity on your medical record during your admission. We are investigating this as a possible breach of condidentiality and will keep you informed of our findings It's not hard is it?

[Vanden Saab]

butchstewie said:

Heard about this on the radio.

No excuses.

I'd like to know what is happening to the people that did it.

There are literally no excuses for this. Every single person working in the NHS with access to medical records knows the punishment for doing it.
It is gross misconduct. It should have resulted in instant dismissal for everyone of them along with being struck off from ever working in the care sector again. In addition they should have been taken to court and faced large fines, victim surcharges and costs.
Also the victims would be entitled to damages from each of the individuals and the NHS trust.
Instead it seems it was hidden for 2 years by both the trust and the regulation authorities and no indication any of the above took place. Both the NHS trust(s)? and the ICO have extremely serious questions to answer over this. It isn't just the staff who should go but everybody in the trust and ICO that had any knowledge of or involvement in the decision to hide it.

[butchstewie]

Can't argue with a word of that.

Stinks of cover-up from start to finish.

I want to know who polices these people when even the ICO seem to say "meh happens everywhere".

[Earthdweller]

In the Police, not only would you be sacked you'd most likely end up in prison for this

There is no excuse

[Tango13]

Vanden Saab said:

There are literally no excuses for this. Every single person working in the NHS with access to medical records knows the punishment for doing it.
It is gross misconduct. It should have resulted in instant dismissal for everyone of them along with being struck off from ever working in the care sector again. In addition they should have been taken to court and faced large fines, victim surcharges and costs.
Also the victims would be entitled to damages from each of the individuals and the NHS trust.
Instead it seems it was hidden for 2 years by both the trust and the regulation authorities and no indication any of the above took place. Both the NHS trust(s)? and the ICO have extremely serious questions to answer over this. It isn't just the staff who should go but everybody in the trust and ICO that had any knowledge of or involvement in the decision to hide it.

Completely agree. The cover up is, in some respects worse than accessing the medical records

You would only have to go nuclear two or three times before people got the message and started to behave themselves.

[Gareth79]

Earthdweller said:

In the Police, not only would you be sacked you'd most likely end up in prison for this

There is no excuse

Police officers don't end up in prison often for unlawful access, usually only if it was for some benefit and not just their own curiosity, eg:

Looked up 5 records, including records of an "associate" who had been charged with an offence, and his own vehicle, 9 months suspended for 2 years: https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/news/former-met-o...

Looked up records of partner, and had "involvement" in controlled drugs - sacked (presumably no prosecution since that would have been mentioned): https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c78wqg893e6o

Looked up records for "personal knowledge", contacted one person they looked up, received caution, retired before hearing: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ckgdvvk77v3o

100 records accessed including that of their partner and a suspected sex offender (who they told that they were a suspect). Would have been dismissed but "no long a police officer", probably retired given 30 years service: https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news...

Four months in prison for sharing data upon request of "associates": https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/news/cumbria-inve...