When is accessing an NHS patient record classed as wrong?

[Sp3849]

So I work for CAMHS as a secretary. My son who has autism was referred into CAMHS 18 months ago and I have heard nothing. I have rang and rang the doctors to chase and they say they have expedited it and can't do much more but I know a referral for mental health should not take this long. After asking colleagues for months to keep an eye out for his referral I was told last week after being beside myself because my son was so poorly by a colleague to check his file to see what the hold up is and if the referral had been picked up and we had missed it . Now this is a job I do on a daily basis. Parents always phone to check on referrals for progress updates for Thier children I really didn't think it would be an issue. How wrong was I! Had an email today and I am being investigated by information governance for accessing my son's health record. I have a meeting with my manager on Wednesday to discuss what I have done and I am not sure what to expect. As he was being referred to us surely I can check that referral? He would be a patient anyway. I didn't look at anything else or do anything else. It turns out when looking the silly g.p referred to the wrong service anyway and it was sent back last to year and go has done nothing with it

You should have got a colleague to check his file. I wouldn’t dream of looking at my family members notes, or even my own!
I don’t understand how you thought it wouldn’t be an issue tbh, unless they haven’t given you appropriate training, in which case you could argue your case. I’m not sure what will happen though, hopefully just additional training.

You should have asked your line manager.

Have you had training on patient confidentiality and when you are allowed to access patent records ?

You can only
Look at things that you need to see in the course of your daily work. And never a relative/close friend.

@Sp3849 you should never have checked his file!!!!

Only when there is a clinical need.

I’m sorry to say that accessing a family member’s file is gross misconduct in our Trust.

It's unlawful and I would think a sackable offence.

This exact scenario is in the standard IG training.

I know nothing about this but would it make a difference if her son is a minor?

I had issues with CAMHS and my son and had access to clinical systems but would never check patient records, it's literally drilled into NHS staff on the yearly IG training. I did contact the service manager to discuss my concerns.

Unfortunately it is a disciplinary situation.

You could have done what other parents do and phone and ask for an update on his referral. That way another colleagues would have done the check as part of their normal course of work.

Accessing them yourself could look like you've abused your position. Is there nothing in your contract about this?

I have a couple of family who work in banking and couldn't just go checking their family members accounts even if they'd been asked to, their family member has to phone and go through the system like every other member of the public. I'd have thought medical records are the same.

It will be a trust policy that you can't access the records of yourself and those related to you. In my trust, if you come across needing to access records of someone you know you in a work capacity, then you have to let someone else do it

No. She should have done what other parents do & phoned up to ask about it

I cant believe you thought this was an appropriate thing to do. You should only be accessing records in relation to your work. You can't just go looking up other people's records - even your sons. The fact the referral wasn't done properly is totally irrelevant

I have access to highly confidential systems at work. Checking family & friends isn't allowed under any circumstances. Were advised that should we be asked to legitimaly check out someone we know we either say no & get someone else to do it or if there's noone then you declare it to your line manager

People have been dismissed for misuse of the system.

This is an absolute no. It’s gross misconduct.

Is this not part of your mandatory training?

You absolutely are not allowed to do this under any circumstance. It's literally one of the scenarios in our IG course which we all have to do, even though I've no access to patient records.

Hopefully you'll get away with more training.

You must have known this was wrong .

Op this is gross misconduct and in my trust would be immediate dismissal. It’s part of mandatory training that you cannot access friends or family’s records. You acknowledge yourself how other parents chase referrals, they phone the service. You should have phoned your service and asked for an alternative member of staff to check the referral.

Or you could have requested access to your son’s records via data sharing requests. But you can’t log in with your own staff ID and check!

Gross Misconduct... Surely you must know what you did was wrong!!

Sorry, as everyone else has said the only legitimate reason to access anybody's records is if you have a need to do so for your work and that should have been covered under mandatory information governance training. It would be taken very seriously in our local Trust I know.
Of course as a parent you have every right to chase up but you should have done it through someone else, just like any other parent would, by calling your GP surgery or the secretary who would have normally dealt with such enquiries. If that Secretary is indeed you, then you should have spoken to your line manager. I'm sure you didn't mean any harm but it's definitely against the rules and in this day and age we effectively leave our digital fingerprints everywhere we go so looking at the file yourself was very unwise.

People get sacked for this. However, with this being your son, and with him being a minor and in your own care, you might hopefully be ok. Fingers crossed.

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

So neither you nor your colleague have taken on board very basic training about data protection

Unfortunately it is a sackable offence and that fact is part of mandatory training for all staff who have access to confidential records. I am really surprised you didn't know that.
Most systems flash up a warning if you access records inappropriately, but those warnings have to be built in.

Surely the fact its her son makes it worse, as there is no chance it was an accident or mistake, there was clear intent to access a file that was not needed for work.
The fact he is a minor makes no difference, he is still entitled to privacy and confidentiality. The people that minors most at risk from breaches in their confidentiality are from family members who think they have the right to see things that they do not.
Whatever the reason its still an abuse of her position, there is a reason those records are private.