I’ve reported my friend for an NHS confidentiality breech

She is a monumental cunt and she deserves to lose her job.
Don’t give her a second thought.

Congratulations on your pregnancy. Try to focus on the happiness your precious baby will bring you.
She does not deserve one more second in your head, the stupid bitch.

And someone like her doesn’t deserve to work in the NHS. So don’t feel bad. It’s a privilege. I work with medical records. I treat those records how I would want my families records treated. With dignity and respect and accessed only when absolutely necessary. Nobody should be accessing friends and family records. Good job they do internal audits now in a lot of places so good luck being a nosy bugger to anyone else who does this as it’s instant dismissal.

It is appalling manners to correct spelling/grammar like this. So inappropriate on a thread about a real issue.

I suppose your mutual "friends" are OK with her browsing through their private medical records and gossiping about it then? Because even if she says she hasn't, and even if it hasn't come to light, the chances are that she has snooped through lots of friends' and family members' records (and talked about it). Why should she keep her job?

I've not seen it happen but they say its a serious offence. She has been an idiot.

What she’s done is disgusting . She’s not your friend so no sad loss. If your other friends are siding with her , them more fool them ( the tables may be turned one day)
She deserves to be dismissed- no patient should have their highly confidential information banded about as idle gossip !

You absolutely did the right thing. She’s a disgrace.

100% you did the right thing!

How often is she randomly nosying in files of people she knows? Did she know you had a medical app? And was that what prompted her to check? Or was she checking many people often (so your pregnancy got uncovered as part of a general scattergun approach)?

But she didn’t only access files - she shared the contents of them will multiple third parties. That is absolutely unforgivable.

Yep, me too. It's not just the OP - quite a few other posters wrote "loose" as well

Anyway, very poor conduct on Karen's part.

This is my area if work OP (although in Australia). I can almost guarantee she'll lose her job. Not 100% certain as the decision maker may consider her personal circumstances during the procedural fairness component of the process. You probably won't hear anything until the process ends, and then all you'll likely get is that the allegations (there will be more than one, when they break it down) are substantiated. They won't tell you the penalty, but as you have mutual friends, you'll probably hear through the grapevine. Don't feel bad, this is very serious. She deserves to have the book thrown at her. I imagine your 'so called' friends would think differently if she was blabbing about their (potentially embarrassing) private medical info.

Don’t worry about it. You did the right thing. She knew because she works with highly sensitive confidential information that her job was at risk if she breached confidentiality - it’s totally her own fault. Looking up people she knows is bad enough but to actually tell other people about your pregnancy is absolutely outrageous and totally wrong.

You did the right thing.

She shared a piece of health news about you that you were going to share in due course - possibly why you are feeling guilty. But I guarantee you that she has shared other news too.

Ask your friends how they'd feel if they went to the clinic/hospital with an STD/diagnosis of cancer/worry about alcohol abuse/mental health issue - would they be alright with Karen telling their friends about it??? Guarantee they wouldn't. Just because it is a pregnancy doesn't make it any different.

She is unfit to work in any environment that requires confidentiality.

They will likely change their tune if and when it comes out she’s checked their records too. I doubt you were the only person she was looking up.

If Karen was innocently looking something up, she should have reported it and ensured she kept her mouth shut. She didn't. She was being nosey and got caught out. I can imagine, if not reported she would have kept looking until baby is here.

In my role, looking up records and sharing personal information would be instant dismissal and probably would have financial implications for the business. At the very least she needs a final warning and a talking to. What a foul woman.

You have nothing to be guilty about. Karen should never have done this.

You know it's not the first time that she has accessed patients records - due to her very casual way of sharing information to anyone that would listen. She will be sacked because of her own stupidity - and rightly so. The NHS need to present a veneer of confidentiality - even though there is a good chance that staff snoop under the guise of providing care - but the clever ones don't share their findings.

Did she access your records appropriately because she was clerking a clinic? In which case she is still wrong for disclosing confidential information but may be disciplined rather than sacked. Completely unacceptable either way.

Wow I cannot believe she done this. You are 100% right for reporting her. How dare she look people up just for her own nosey needs? I'm an RN and I wouldn't dream of ever doing anything like this. Even if I was a nosey twat I still don't think I could bring myself to do it for the sheer worry of getting sacked anyway! Let alone all the other reasons why you just wouldn't do it! She deserves to lose her job! And your mates would be ok with her looking up shit about them? Don't think so.

Don’t feel bad. She went too far wielding her little bit of NHS power. That's not okay and she should be disciplined! She did wrong and she should answer for it. She's the wrong person for the job and she chose to do this. Fuck her!

NHS employee here too. Karen needs to go! Not only has she looked into records inappropriately ( to snoop, let's be honest) but from what OP wrote, she appears to be totally lacking in self-awareness by minimising her gross breach of patient confidentiality. Such mindless arrogance is breathtaking. Well done OP, you undoubtedly did the right thing and probably stopped somebody else having their confidentiality being breached too. Can't understand why your friends are defending Karen, that's just beyond my comprehension.

You won't hear back. They don't need to disclose anything to you about the process or the results of the audit.

But you were right to report her.

She will be interviewed and reprimanded, she could be fired. Someone i knew spoke about a patient by name at a departmental dinner and was sacked. She just blurted something out. However your friend may get away with it if it's a one off and she will certainly not do it again, lesson learned.

I generally don't go for grassing people up but I do believe confidential means confidential. Patients have to be able to trust all staff in a medical environment.

It doesn't sound as though you have been confidential about it if all your mutual friends know. There was no need for anyone else to know surely. Your friend is the one in the wrong, should have known better.

This

She brought it on herself. But your friendship with her, and those close to her is probably over.