I’ve reported my friend for an NHS confidentiality breech

It was a PP who objected not me, you obviously know the misogynistic connotations of Karen so I dont understand your question.

If you do not want her to lose her job, the recommended course of action would be to contact the hospital and let them know this, that while you were and are still upset no real harm has been caused.

You have done nothing wrong. Of course she should have been reported. Imvho, I also think she deserves to be sacked for that. She is not in a job appropriate for her personality if she thinks it’s OK to access confidential medical information of people well known to her and share it with her friends.

I am so angry for you .
She should be sacked. .
She read your private files !
She told your medical business to others
She then told your pregnancy news and tooke that from you .

Can you actually speak to a solicitor .

I wouldn't feel too guilty for this. My MIL did this with me during my pregnancy - as she worked in the hospital. Knew all my appointments and scans without being told.
Then when I was induced and we didn't want to tell anyone - she saw on my file and sent food to the room without telling us. I was furious.
You can't feel guilty about your actions which were reasonable when hers were out of order

Genuine curiosity here... Wouldn't it seem like a slur to whatever name she chose? e.g. if she'd called her Linda, would that imply that Lindas are generally nosey and untrustworthy? We already know it's a woman so I can't see how it's misogynistic. Or are you objecting to the common (mis)use of the name Karen to denote a certain kind of person?

I'm so sorry this has happened to you @BundleOfCookies

Your friend has breached NHS confidentiality policy and faces gross misconduct charges and potential dismissal. Look up NHS confidentiality policy for details.

Harm in the NHS is not just defined as physical. There is also psychological harm that can cause distress.

None of us know the circumstances to the OPs pregnancy. There could be a whole range of circumstances that the OP and her DH may not have wanted disclosed to others or even to continue with the pregnancy.

At the very least the friend has taken away OPs big moment to share the news to people in her own time.

OPs whole trust in her pregnancy/health care would have been broken by the friends disclosure. Had the op not spoken up - they might feel vulnerable to further disclosures about the pregnancy, the sex, any issues or complications during & post pregnancy. They may not share certain info with health professionals out of fear of further privacy breaches and therefore putting their health at risk.

Your friend was unprofessional (maybe not for the first time) and will need to face the consequences of that now. The other friends haven't yet understood the seriousness of her actions.

I hope you have a wider friendship circle to spend time with.

If you're not sure on timeframes for the complaint the PALs team can follow up and inform you of the process.

Hmm I’m torn on this one tbh. What she done was wrong, very wrong. I work in the NHS and would never dream of doing this I really can’t imagine what she was thinking it was so unbelievably stupid of her. I would imagine she will lose her job. But at the same time if I was trying to give her the benefit of the doubt maybe she thought as it was in her eyes “happy news” she maybe thought you wouldn’t be upset so no big deal. Of course that’s not the case and you have every right to be upset. But equally if this was a stupid lapse of judgement and she was otherwise a good friend I’m not sure I would have reported her, I would have had a very stern word with her about it and told her I would report it if i heard her breaking confidentiality again. She will most likely lose her job and will find it very difficult to get another clerical job in the future with this on her record.

I have something similar happen to me. I was 6 weeks pregnant and was forced to tell my management team when our very first Covid case arrived in the ICU. I was promptly sent home until decisions could be made and a colleague seen my name crossed out on the rota and put 2 and 2 together and then announced it to the full tea room on my return a week later. I was upset but didn’t take it any further.

That is a terrible breach of confidentiality and she deserves to lose her job. How dare she look at other people’s medical records but then to top it off she tells people! Don’t you feel bad. You have done nothing wrong. It will probably take a few weeks for them to get back to you

As Karen hadn't been told by you that you're pregnant (congratulations), it means she must be routinely browsing her friends' medical records for her own curiosity. That's seriously out of order.

I understand you feeling guilty but you definitely shouldn't.

Ignore the spelling pedants, OP. As for your mutual "friends", maybe they wouldn't be so dismissive of what this other friend has done if it was their private medical information she was broadcasting to all and sundry. You have absolutely done the right thing in reporting her. She knows the rules regarding her job and she needs to face up to the consequences of breaking them, otherwise she might have kept reading your notes throughout your pregnancy.

I am gobsmacked that this rule breaker not only does this regularly but is bragging to friends about it!! Definitely done the right thing, hopefully she gets fired

The thing is, OP, your friend has been on her way to losing her job from the first moment she looked at a friend's file. The NHS run regular audits which pick up when someone has been looking at something they had no business with, so they would have discovered what she has been up to sooner or later.

Thanks! He disappeared the entire pregnancy before unblocking me the day after ds1 was born (who was born early). Always made me wonder if it was a coincidence or if he’d been snooping on my medical records.

Well done OP. Surely not looking up people's records is Healthcare 101 - I have no experience in the field and even I know that. She deserves to lose her job if she can't adhere to basics like that.

Exactly - and why exactly would she be snooping in there, if not to gain access to information that makes her feel she somehow has an advantage over everyone else by knowing stuff....what a deeply unpleasant person.

I had to research this a little while ago as my dd was in a similar (but not the same) situation a while ago. The info I found suggested they would deep dive the staff members login to see if they had made any other unwanted searches. They take it all very seriously and if there were further searches (sounds like there is in this case) then they will be invited to a hearing.

I wouldn't feel guilty, she absolutely deserves to get punished. Even the loss of her job would be a fitting punishment. She brought this on, not you. It's a horrendous misuse of her 'power'. Just to be clear, you can get sacked for searching up your own records. They are very strict on this

Don't feel bad what she has done is beyond disgusting

How dare she!!! Im amazed everyone in your friendship group isnt similarly outraged at her brass neck, snooping in their files to see personal medical details. What if there were something deeply private in there....a cancer diagnosis, an STD etc etc?? Is she a bully - does she talk over people and intimidate them so perhaps they are scared to go against her? It sounds like shes been riding roughshod over everyones rights to privacy for a while....

Sorry that was to the poster suggesting PALS

Not PALS. The Caldicott Guardian.

This isn't a typically dyslexic error, in fact. None of the rest of the post suggests dyslexia.

She needs the sack. No way could she not have known.