I’ve reported my friend for an NHS confidentiality breech

Surely she should have thought about the risk of losing her job when she decided to nose around in her friends' private information.

She will have signed some sort of NDA when she took the job so she has breached her contract - not your fault.

And it was not her news to tell everyone.

And as for your other friends, how would they feel if one of them had an illness or and STI and Karen was gossiping about it, they would not like it if the shoe was on the other foot, and you might want to tell them that

If you want to access your own medical records then you do it the same way as everyone else has to. You don’t log on and just help yourself to the information.

Are you trolling the SPAG people ?😂

Does she just look up all her friends/family medical records In her spare time?

1 She looked you up for no other reason but to be nosey.

2 She then took what she read and began gossiping about it.

3 How you or any off your friends could trust she won't do it again I don't know.
She needs to accept her consequences she knew she shouldn't off done it, and as for your friends am sure they would feel differently if she done it to them she actually probably has read all their private medical history too.

Don't feel guilty at all. You did the right thing. It looks like your friend didn't do this as a one-off, but does it on a regular basis and thinks nothing of it. She is really out of order and unsuitable for the job she is doing. If feel more confident knowing that when people spot such breaches they report the. Thank you for doing so.

In 2023/24 there was a case concerning the ICO and a secretary at the London Clinic who accessed more than 150 patients’ records without consent or clinical justification. She faced criminal proceedings, was found guilty and fined.

What the ‘friend’ has done is criminal. That your friends OP don’t see this, don’t appreciate that amongst them any of them may have stuff in their records they prefer no-one knows about - both the friend who looked it up and those that she shared it with - seems to indicate they are not great people either. Perhaps you should point out that she now knows their private information and may already have shared it with other people. The STD they had when they were 19, the abortion when they were not ready to start a family, the fact they regularly get piles? All accessed and ready to share whenever she feels like it.

Not only has she shown you who she is, but she’s exposed your friends too. You deserve better.

If an audit can show that she’s accessed your records without having a business need to do so, then she will definitely lose her job. I have a friend and three family members who work for the NHS and who have access to patient records. It is drummed into them from day 1 that looking up the records of people you know, just to have a nose, is absolutely forbidden and there will only ever be one outcome to doing it. The fact that she’s disclosed your pregnancy to mutual friends makes it a million times worse. I also work in a job where I have access to some incredibly personal information about people. There’s no pretending you didn’t realise or you forgot; it’s the number 1 rule and we all know the consequences for breaking that rule.

Your mutual friends are being really thick. How would they feel if she’d disclosed Kate had a genital herpes diagnosis in her early 20s? Or was discussing what was going on in Sarah’s marriage that she wanted an abortion? They’d all be screaming from the rafters for her to be sacked. If they cannot see what the problem is, or think that it’s not serious enough for her to warrant losing her job, they are idiots and you have not lost anything if they are not in your life anymore.

I work in HR and this is gross misconduct and very high chance of dismissal. It's shocking what she has done. What if u or ur friends had personal info that u didn't want people to know. It's disgraceful. If that is what she does with friends goodness knows what she does with other people data.

The likelihood you won't hear anything for a file as they will be in touch with ICT to do an audit on every file she has looked at and if there was a genuine reason for it. They may go back several months/years depending what they find.

You won't be shared with the outcome of Karen but they will advise if ur complaint has been upheld or not.

P.S. DO NOT feel guilty- she abused her position of trust with access to information.

Congrats on your baby news

accessing your OWN record?

but that makes no sense?

everyone should be able to access their own records, it's THEIR records

the rest of this, totally understand and agree

Gross misconduct. Summary dismissal.

You did the right thing, she had no right to snoop around or announce your pregnancy. You don't need friends like that, wait until it happens to your other friends in the friends group, they wouldn't be happy at all.

Of course they are but you dont think that's the persons name do you?

We all know she's using it as a derogatory slur but I assume most are concentrating on the records breach issue

As she's admin she's unlikely to loose her job. They may dismiss her from the position but they will offer her retraining and she will be paid on suspension before they move her to somewhere else within nhs.
You did the right thing. She doesn't just access your pregnancy records but what ever you have on your notes with regards to past medical history including baby loss, family history etc she's likely to read. She even knows your blood type and what jabs you're due.
This woman was in such a position of trust and she completely violated it. Well done for standing up to her.

Just wanted to add my support for you OP. You have absolutely done the right thing. What your ex friend did is utterly inexcusable and she only has herself to blame.
Enjoy your pregnancy and you will make loads of new mum friends in the weeks and months ( and years) to come.

It depends entirely on what permissions have been attached to his smart card. The practice manager at his surgery will know.
As a peripatetic practitioner I could access the patient records at 12 surgeries but I would never have accessed the record of a patient I wasn't managing.

Hi OP,
I believe NHS incident investigations (which is what this will be) must be outcomes and completed in 30 days. So you should have a response soon. Did you make a formal written complaint, and state it was a formal complaint?
That said, not every trust is as thorough as they should be. Do not let this lie and please chase this up. If it wasn't lodged as a formal written complaint, then please make one, because they will be compelled to investigate and respond to you.
I work in healthcare, and this type of carelessness with people's details and info is not on - next time, she could leak information that might put someone at risk - for example, a safeguarding risk. You are not responsible for protecting her from her own bad behaviour.

Seriously?

It is a proper name, you know. Some women are actually called that

You have absolutely done the right thing. She had no right whatsoever to look and then to breach GDPR to tell other people. I am sorry but she definitely needed to be reported. It's unbelievable. Your friends would maybe think differently if she had looked up medical information about them and then spread it around. I have family who have been through cancer diagnosis and treatment and they were very private about it, that was the way they coped and it would have been horrific for them if that information was 'leaked'. Incidentally I have been through pregnancies and I've had a tough time and all I've wanted to do is keep that knowledge safe and protected until I felt strong enough to share. There is nothing strange or weird about that. It is an incredibly vulnerable time and to have your medical files breached like this is a form of assault.

HelmholtzWatson
Not convinced any harm done

What a strange opinion, hit a nerve maybe?
The op has had her medical notes breached and gossiped about. Dreadful, now wondering how often this happens, it's a violation. She needs sacked.

@BundleOfCookies you have absolutely done the right thing. Well done for having the courage to do it and sorry others are not standing by you.

If you want an update you could contact PALS - the patient advice and liaison service. They probably won't be able to disclose what happens to her due to confidentiality!

I hope she IS sacked.

It's not just about you OP. What if you had AIDs, would she have told everyone that? An abortion? A miscarriage? An STD? Cancer? Mental health issues?

I'd go back to the furious anger stage, what she did was despicable.

It's not an over-reaction at all. Would you be happy going to see a doctor if you knew the appointment wasn't really confidential? She definitely shouldn't have been in that job.