I’ve reported my friend for an NHS confidentiality breech

I once saw that someone my ds had previously worked with had a stillbirth. That was nearly 20 years ago, afaik my ds doesn’t know and never will from me.

Your friend was so wrong @BundleOfCookies and very stupid to tell people.
Your actions in reporting her will stop others from having their private information gossiped about so don’t feel bad.

I would ask your "friends" if they are happy that she is reading their confidential medical records? I doubt you are the only friend she has looked up. Nosy people like this should not have access to confidential information. She isn't suited to the job.

Regardless of the confidentiality breach (which is appalling), it's terrible that she told people behind your back; that's entirely your privilege. It's over 40 years ago now, but I still remember the thrill of going into work and telling my workmates I was pregnant, and how surprised and excited they were.

It's more serious than that. She's already been 'trained' and it didn't work, did it?

I think you need to refind some of that anger, OP. This wasn’t a mistake where she just happened to find out in the course of her work and then accidentally let it out to your friends.

She deliberately spies on you and your friends - so that she can talk about it. This time it’s the news you’re pregnant, happy news that your friends are going to find out about anyway. But what if it was something else?

What if you or one of your friends had had an abortion, or got difficult news about your baby? What if you had some other medical condition that impacted your pregnancy that you didn’t want to share with her or anyone else, at any point? What if your child has some issues you don’t want to share?

But she goes looking anyway.

Even if she had the discretion not to share it (and there are no guarantees) you would still be talking to her, pretending there was nothing wrong/nothing had happened, and she would know. It would change the way she saw you. And she has deliberately put herself and you (and all the people she’s looked up) in a position where that was a significant possibility.

Do not apologise to her. Let your friends know what she’s like because they are also in a position where she’s seen their records too.

Refind your anger.

Let the NHS audit and disciplinary process take its course (call them up and ask about time lines if it’s leaving you on edge not knowing). Maybe it’s not serious enough to get her fired. But if it is, then that’s because she should not be in the job and it’s good she would not be in a position to do it again.

She lost her job the second she started accessing peoples records. Its even forbidden to check your own records.

You did the right thing. Even if they can't prove it i.e. she just looked over peoples shoulders they can keep an eye on heer for now and she will go mandatory training.

When your friends get pissy with you say imagine if she saw you had chlamydia and started telling people to clean the toilet seat afterwards.

@BundleOfCookies
Well done on reporting... You'll have stopped this woman leaking more personal information.

I'm sorry @BundleOfCookies that you've been put in this position.

Can the others in the group only imagine if there was something quite private that you would prefer kept private in any of your files?

Karen has the gall to stick her nose in where it was not asked! She would have been logged every time she went into a file, I presume like others have suggested that the ethics committee are completing a thorough audit of all of her logs.

She'll be sacked and rightly so

Massive breach.

The only role she's suitable for is away from ANY data... And not in NHS /private practise.

There is NO excuse... It is drummed into you when you work in NHS.

She is so dim /arrogant that she thought she'd get away with it..

Thank you for reporting.

It is a massive information governance/GDPR breach - which she will know because she will have had mandatory annual training telling her so - and almost certainly gross misconduct. She absolutely should lose her job.

Yes. They can see if person x has accessed a record. Then they can investigate whether there was a legitimate reason for accessing that record at that time. If there's a legitimate reason to access it and they subsequently gossiped that's harder to deal with than if there is no legitimate reason to be in your record at that time.

Read the OP's OP. She is very clear on this.

You did the correct thing in reporting her. She will have been trained in patient confidentiality and will know that she should not under any circumstances be passing on personal information. Did she even have any right to access your records (appointment booking for example) or does she just have a good nose around in the data base to satisfy her own curiosity. If it is the latter then she has committed a double breach by reading information she should not be privy to and then passing it on

OP, why did she look at your records to find this out? Had she seen you at the clinic? Was she doing regular spot checks on her friends’ records?

She will get sacked but they need to prove the case it's gross misconduct.cheeky cow that she is

She should lose her job for this. Confidentiality is paramount in her role

This how seriously accessing patient records is taken, never mind sharing:

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/mar/06/nhs-staff-may-have-illegally-accessed-records-of-nottingham-attack-victims

I was accused of this a few years ago by my ex husbands new partner. I hadn't looked her up and never would but I was restricted from all computers and an investigation took place. I was told I'd be escorted from the building if they found anything.
They didn't as I hadn't done it and I was offered counselling

Just a note for information. If anyone ever suspects that their personal health records have been accessed inappropriately, the correct way to report is to contact the Caldicott Guardian for the practice or Trust. Not PALS or anyone else.
In General Practice this is most likely to be the practice manager, in hospital it will be a senior person in management or HR. The information is on the Trust or Practice website and can be searched online. By going directly to the CG the whole process can happen swiftly and discreetly.

What Karen did was completely unacceptable. Looking up patient records and then telling people confidential medical information - Jesus! I'm so glad you reported her. She's untrustworthy and not fit to work in that job, if that's what she does. I'm sure that's against some kind of rules and regulations. Telling your friends that you're pregnant!!!!

You were absolutely unquestionably correct to report her. This is a gross breach of confidentiality and it's astounding she was so brazen about it.

She should be sacked.

Out of curiosity, when the NHS conducts an audit of her digital footprint, how would they know that she is accessing records without authority? Would they cross-check the cases she is working on with the names of the persons whose records she accessed?

OP hasn’t been confidential about it because she had to ask the mutual friends how they knew about her pregnancy!

I would have been livid of someone had done this, I actually didn’t tell anyone apart from DH and work about my pregnancy until well after the anomaly scan.

Exactly!!!

Mistakes are so easy on the latest iteration of whatever MN uses for posts, and they quite often default to the last likely option. There instead of their springs to mind. In fact just typing made it opt for there immediately.

What she has done is awful. Total betrayal of trust.
The rules are there to protect patients as our most confidential information, that we trust the medical profession to keep confidential, is stored in hospitals and GP surgeries.
She is clearly unsuited to her job, has taken nothing on board from her training and thinks she can access medical records and spread gossip.
You have nothing to feel bad about, in fact you should be proud of yourself. People like that do not belong in positions of trust.