AIBU to report this?

[avoidingcleaningagain]

Posting here for traffic as I know I should report this really.

Friend is in a job in a medical setting. She herself is not medical.

Got talking last week and she mentioned something about another friend of mine (call her A) who had a baby in December. I queried how she could know this information (it was to do with how A gave birth last year) and she said that she had been doing some back logged admin work moving paper onto electronic copies and knew when A had given birth so looked her up on the list.

I'm a bit confused about this. I think from what she has said that the maternity unit must have a record on paper of everyone who gave birth that day or something and she was moving them onto the computer system and decided to look for A.

Now clearly it is not a secret that A has had a baby girl but friend knew the details of the birth (think the method of birth, c section, instrumental etc).

I was taken aback when she casually told me this and said she is not allowed to do that. She said ah it was just coincidence which completely backtracked on what she had said about looking A up.

I feel I should report this as obviously she should not be looking up people who she knows medical history and I am also concerned she may do the same to me when I give birth next month. Am I projecting? I know A has not made all of the details of her birth (was quite traumatic) public and would probably be upset to know my friend has done this. A and I have already discussed the birth but what if I hadn't already known?

Also worried it will be my word against hers as I guess she could have stumbled on the info by accident.

If the OP knows details about A's birth and things she shouldn't know medically about A following the birth, how would you imagine she came to have this information if her medical friend didn't tell her?

I'll just leave this here...

www.digitalhealth.net/2017/08/ico-warns-nhs-staff-that-unlawfully-accessing-patient-records-is-an-offence/

My sister works in admin at our local hospital, she knew i was pregnant before anyone else because she booked my scan for me. She also knew our brother had cancer before the rest of us did. Its part of her job to book appointments and stuff.
She never said a word about either until we told her, which must have been so hard (for very different reasons). She even tried to react as if it was the first time she was hearing the news, but she's a terrible actress bless her.
She didn't say a word because she's a professional and honest. As well as knowing she'd loose her dam job.
Report her.

Have literally just finished an investigation into something similar. Hearing was this week. It ended a 30 year career.

As well as the impact on an individual I work in a role that depends on the legal sharing of pseudonymised record level data to perform a number of tasks which aim to improve health at a population level. We don't have access to names and addresses but do have access to potentially identifiable data if we chose to dig. We don't because it's not acceptable but people doing what your friend has done understandably erode public trust in the organisations that hold and share personal data and put these wider activities at risk.

The Trust will have a complaints procedure detailed online. Contact their PALS department.

You don’t want her to lose her job or get in to trouble?! You do know that that is exactly what will happen if you ring up on Monday right?!

If it helps your conscience, whatever organisation she works for will pay an enormous fine for data breaches which will only get bigger as the extent of her snooping and/or the harm caused by it increases. There will be an audit trail (showing both who she looked at and the extent of the data she accessed) so it won't just be your word against hers and you'll be doing the NHS a service by limiting the damage.

You do know that that is exactly what will happen if you ring up on Monday right?!

She's already committed a crime and is either unaware of the severity or doesn't care. The evidence is already in the system and will be retained for decades. Putting a stop to it might be the difference between mere dismissal and a large (personal) fine/imprisonment.