I’ve reported my friend for an NHS confidentiality breech

My dad has a long and very large file with the NHS (more than 10 years long) and I think if someone had looked at that and told other people what they had read I would have complained too. As an aside, I would have been apoplectic with rage!

Your friends seem to be idiots, all of them. Time to find new friends.

All that aside, good luck with your pregnancy OP, and congratulations!

This! Dork feel bad, they’re not good friends if they side with her. Shocking behaviour! I made an nhs complaint once (medical negligence) and the report which was comprehensive took 6 months so it may just take a while to be audited

It sounds like she was looking at all her friends records. The reason is moot though of course. It’s wrong.

All appointments are usually on a central system as are any letters unless agreed otherwise. There are then systems within that for more sensitive information. So for example sexual health clinics often have a separate section with an extra fire wall so anyone looking has to ‘break the glass’ to enter which shows up as a more obvious alert.

Just another voice here to say you have done nothing. You were right to feel upset and angry. She deserves whatever comes to her. Which in all likelihood will be dismissal for breach of confidentiality if patient records .

Yes. That’s exactly the right thing to do. Even in training, if someone has consented for their information to be shared anonymously as an example, if you think you recognise the details as someone you know, you have to leave. Confidentiality is a bedrock of good care.

Which part of the NHS does she work for ? I’m confused as to why your booking in appointment with your midwife would be on your central record ( the bit that is accessible to other departments).

Yes! Absolutely. And the litigation thing is the harm I forgot. That is less money in the pot for providing care and more money spent on legal services.

Oh. And another harm done, that’s less important, is that now, most likely, the bloody mandatory training will be even longer because some people don’t bloody pay it enough heed!! That’s a couple of hours of my life I won’t get back and a couple of patients that could have been seen.

There are audit logs. The system keeps a track of every record you look at, every attempt to sign in, every change that you make. All they need to do is pull her audit and search the OPs name to see what she looked at, when, and what she did in those files, if the friend had no legitimate reason to be looking at taking those actions then the evidence will be clear.

You were right to report her and she’s the one to blame for losing her job. The way she breezily admitted to searching for info on her friends shows she’s blatant and has no intention of following the privacy policies.
Life is going to change for you - make the most of ante natal groups and playgroups to make better friends.

PS congrats on your pregnancy

Terrible thing of her to do. She’ll also probably be used as a case study for future training in the trust. I’d be amazed if she wasn’t sacked but she deserves it for being so stupid. The example I remember in training from years and years ago was that someone who had looked up a friend who was pregnant, started telling people and then that friend lost the baby so was having people congratulate her for a pregnancy that had not progressed. It is an absolute no-no and she’ll have been told that in very clear terms when she started.

It would put people off seeking medical help.

There is a reason why medical stuff is properly confidential.

Once the 'friends' get a letter saying that their personal information has been illegally accessed, despite their small minds, they might actually realise how shitty this actually is.

The NHS is being exposed to litigation here too. OP, you are able to claim for your upset/distress and alarm.

She is utter lowlife.

OP what a gross violation. Well done for reporting her. This is terrible!

The harm is;

The OPs personal information being shared with others without her consent. Lots of women don’t like to share that they are pregnant for lots of reasons. There might be all kinds of things on her medical record that she doesn’t want anyone to know. Think of the most embarrassing thing you have been to see healthcare professionals for and then imagine all your friends have been told. It’s psychological harm.

The other harm done here is that all those people who know about this (including us) will now have a little less trust that our health information will be held confidentially. There are many many harms that could come from that including fatalities. If you have embarrassing digestive symptoms for example, but you think the receptionist will share those with your friends and colleagues, you might not seek help and then die unnecessarily from bowel cancer.

It’s really not that hard to see the harm done here.

Does anyone know if GPs can view your medical records if they don’t work at your surgery (but have previously worked at a hospital you attended at a later date)?
Dc2 dad is a GP and very sneaky. I wouldn’t put it past him trying to snoop through my medical records if he had the chance!

Sackable*

This is shocking. As others have said, the NHS treat this very seriously and it is a stackable offence. This is a serious breach of data security and she should be punished. All NHS employees are told not to do this at the very start of their induction into the role. You have done nothing wrong and have nothing to feel bad about.

She's totally unsuited to working in a confidential setting and your 'friends' are idiots for siding with her. If they ever have a personal or potentially embarrassing medical issue she'll be violating their privacy too.

Your morals are on show. Or lack thereof.

I'm not NHS but a Government Department. We would get dismissed for this (and rightly so!)

To look up the information is already against the rules but to then tell others is darn right stupid.

First pregnancy and anxious - it's normal to not tell people until, say, two or three months due to risk of miscarriage, processing a new life course, wanting to travel to tell close relatives first in person before they hear it from others. Taking someone's control away is a destructive breach of friendship and trust, and they can never have this experience again (there's no second first pregnancy). The digital footprint at work may reveal other unrelated breaches, though even one is gross misconduct and not survivable. You need a stern conversation yourself (rolls eyes).

You don’t need to be convinced of the harm this has caused.

How is your conviction on the matter relevant?

Even if you didnt know beforehand all the posts on this thread must have made you aware that unauthorised looking at medical records is a sackable offence in the NHS

Maybe you dont agree with that but it's the way it is and in no circumstance could the person who reports the breach be responsible for the consequences for the person who committed it. How is does that even need to be said?