As part of a “zero-tolerance crackdown” on snooping, instant suspension is on the cards for NHS England staff suspected of looking at patient records without a valid reason, while those under suspicion will be blocked from NHS computer systems, preventing any further viewing of confidential records, including from home, reports the BBC.
NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey has written to every trust, ordering the measures to be introduced immediately to strengthen protection against data breaches.
This comes after a series of high-profile incidents involving the records of Nottingham and Southport attack victims, and a child who was injured in a crocodile enclosure in Cambridgeshire.
It was found that nearly 50 staff had looked inappropriately at the medical records of victims of the Southport knife attack.
The data breach happened at Aintree Hospital in Liverpool where some of the injured were treated in the days after the July 2024 attack, but this only emerged in May this year.
The patients affected included a 13-year-old girl who had been helping to supervise the Taylor Swift-themed dance class that was targeted in the attack – and a teacher.
The NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHLG), which runs Aintree, said the breach was "inexcusable"
Still happening
This week, Bristol Foundation NHS Trust said it had launched an internal investigation after finding the medical records of an 18-year-old had been accessed years after his death.
The boy’s mother, Paula McGowan, told the BBC she was “deeply concerned and hurt” and called for the NHS to do more to deal with the problem.
The NHS said its “hardline” approach was part of a wider crackdown, including the launch of a national campaign to “remind staff of their responsibilities and the serious consequences of unlawful access”.
“Patient records contain some of the most private information people will ever share,” said Mackey.
“Anyone who thinks they can satisfy their curiosity by looking at a patient’s record should know this: they will be found out, they may lose their career and could end up with a criminal record.”
An investigation for the Health Services Journal this month found that at least 214 NHS staff have been fired and around 2 000 been sanctioned for snooping on sensitive patient data over the past five years.
In some cases, it emerged staff were curious about a high-profile patient and wanted to know more about their condition or care.
Other staff have been struck off after looking up the medical records of relatives, acquaintances and ex-partners without authorisation.
In 2023 an NHS consultant in Cambridgeshire was investigated by the General Medical Council (GMC) after accessing the health history of a woman who had started dating the doctor’s ex-boyfriend.
There is no single NHS-wide electronic record system that every employee can access.
Instead, organisations including GP practices, hospitals and specialist clinics, maintain their own records and determine who can view particular information.
IT systems keep an audit trail that should be able to show exactly who accessed a patient’s records and when.
Paula McGowan, whose autistic son Oliver died in 2016, was told that at least five members of staff at Southmead Hospital may have accessed his records without permission as recently as this year.
Bristol NHS Foundation Trust said it was undertaking a full investigation and it would be “inappropriate to reach conclusions before those enquiries are complete”.
BBC article – NHS to suspend staff suspected of snooping on patient records (Open access)
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