I’ve reported my friend for an NHS confidentiality breech

She won’t need proof as in text messages. There will be an electronic footprint of everyone she’s looked at on the system. She should lose her job OP, well done for reporting her.

what your NHS worker friend is a huge no-no.

Even if you'd begged her to access your notes for you she'd be in big trouble.

She’s not a nurse she’s admin staff - easily replaceable.

I imagine it's because other friends quite enjoyed Karen quickly checking what their colonoscopy results were for them or following up on where they are in a queue for a physio referral. And now the OP denied them this access.

OP, please don't feel guilty. I work for the NHS and I don't want to be working alongside people like that. I hope you told the IG office about the fact that she also shared your personal information. She could have wiggled out of unauthorised access if part of her job involves any type of filing or appointment bookings as she may argue she came across records as part of that. However, sharing the information about you with others without documented consent is a major breach of IG. I wouldn't like to think that she gets off with a warning and mandatory training for this. Some offences require immediate dismissal.

I know. I’m just saying I know it’s not nice to have your personal information shared. I’m absolutely not excusing what OPs friend has done. Completely inappropriate and a high breach of trust but I also can’t imagine reporting and having a good friend lose their job, potentially putting them and their family in financial hardship for sharing pregnancy news early. I would potentially end the friendship If I felt very strongly about it but no I probably wouldn’t report it.

She is not a nurse . And you are being very dramatic saying you couldn't live with yourself for reporting and potentially causing them to be fired.
They should not be in this job if they can not follow very basic rules . Friend or not.
Medical notes are private for a lot of reasons.

A nurse who illegally accesses medical files of friends is NOT a "good NHS nurse". If she can't keep confidentiality and exploits the medical records of her friends for her own needs then she's a danger and unfit to be anywhere near patients.

Thing is, OP, is that it's likely that you won't be the only person whose medical records she's accessed. If this is true, then it's absolutely awful, unacceptable, possibly illegal, and she deserves to lose her job.

Also, imagine if she had information and she was to use that against someone or try and blackmail them. She’s on shaky ground. I think you need to follow this up.

What OP's friend did was illegal. Medical records contain confidential information that most people don't want other people to know. OP's pregnancy may be a nice thing, but what if she had previous terminations of pregnancy that she wouldn't want people to know about, or had reported domestic violence in a previous relationship? OP's friend isn't just looking up the information, she is passing it on to other people.

As the confidentiality of medical information is such a huge thing in the NHS, OP's friend would know the consequences if her employer found out what she has done. As well as being completely unprofessional, she sounds too stupid to work in that role.

Karen knows damn well she’s not allowed to do what she did and could lose her job as a result. She also knows she bought it on herself.

Your mutual friends are morons. Do they think Karen hasn’t looked them up and found stuff out about them too? If I found out a friend of mine did this to another friend my first thought would be “omg that’s a terrible breach of trust” followed up with “omg. What does that nosy
bitch know about me?”

That's not the same as actually reading your medical notes .
Personal information that you probably want to keep quiet. Not just the pregnancy.

I don’t work in the nhs but I have worked previously as a nurse in another country and this would be an absolute no no. She would have presumably received training on this (everyone working in hospitals where I live receives extensive training on confidentiality) and should know better. She sounds like she has no common sense whatsoever, what on earth was she thinking ? It really does sound like she is not suitable for working there having done something like this. If she thinks this is acceptable what else could she get up to.

She broke the law. however, I would never report a friend before explaining how hurt I was by her accessing my health information, and informing her that I will be reporting her (for past and any future indiscretions) if I heard of similar behaviour happening again.

I couldn't live with myself to cause a good NHS nurse and friend to lose her job.

You’re either a bit dim or your moral compass is so far off, it’s done a runner. 🙄

This isn’t a minor indiscretion on her part but a massive breach of trust and she will have received mandatory training explaining all this when she started the job. She will have been clearly told that accessing records to have a nosey and passing on information to others is a sackable offence. She’s admitted to the OP that she’s looked at other peoples records too.

She’ll have to leave voluntarily or be sacked because even her colleagues won’t want to continue working with her.

Absolutely outrageous that she has done this, she definitely deserves to be sacked. I do understand why you now feel guilty but she has brought this on herself entirely.

Another NHS worker here. There’s no way your friend could be naive as to the fact that this is wrong and gross misconduct - whatever NHS trust they work for. Every time I access information our IT system flags that it must be for legitimate work reasons. Even accessing your own records are not allowed. Induction training and annual training reinforces. I work in a department where I know a friend’s records may need to be accessed periodically. I’ve never been in them as I ask a colleague. Your friend and mutual friends may be angry with you but you’ve done 100% the right thing and I hope she loses her job, just as I’d expect to if it was me.

So it's one thing to have a sneaky look at your records (although that's not really acceptable) but quite another, to then discuss with all and sundry! Your so called friends group, are imo, being totally unreasonable about it. I wonder how one of them would feel if their medical condition had been discussed. I'm sorry your having to deal with this in your early stages of pregnancy. I'm sorry to say, but if she looses her job, then that's on her and not you.

When I worked at the NHS I had to go to a higher up to check something in my health records. She then had to relay the bit of info I needed (date of a long past medical diagnosis). It did seem odd that there wasn’t a method whereby I could look at my own electronic file.

I hope that's not how the system works, gross misconduct is gross misconduct, she shouldn't get away with it because one person doesn't really mind. That's not remotely appropriate

Honestly OP, I think you did the right thing. What a stupid, horrible cow she is! Also your friends who sided with her, fuck them all! So sorry she brought this stress to you :(

I agree. It's one thing to see someone's records in passing as part of your job. This is sometimes unavoidable - a bit like when once or twice I've recognised someone on here that I know in real life, but I have never ever breathed a word to them or anyone else we know.

It's quite another to then share that medical information with friends, especially mutual friends that know you!! Completely outrageous. She's not in the right job if she thought that was ok.

She will only have herself to blame when she gets the sack.

A very old friend of mine who was a GP’s receptionist once shocked us by telling us (and laughing) about a neighbour’s case of (IIRC) piles.

By that time we lived a 3 hour drive away so didn’t even know the person in question, but I was still appalled that she did it at all. It was ages ago and AFAIK she never lost her job, but I dare say it certainly wasn’t a one-off.

You did the right thing. Even if you hadn't reported her then the friendship was over as you can no longer trust her. My daughter is a nurse and what she did is a big no no, she should not be looking at patients medical history unless she needs to for her work. Yes, she will have access to anyone's files but everything is monitored. I am surprised given that she has done this before, that it has not flagged up that she is accessing patients records without a reason to do so. She will be (quite rightly) fully investigated and most probably dismissed from her role.