To feel very suspicious of her?

[Suspicious122]

My friend is a dietician for the NHS.
I have been undergoing some treatment at a different hospital than hers. My issue is she seems to know details which she really shouldn't know especially as my issue is nothing to do with her area of knowledge. I am starting to think she has looked at my file. Aibu to ask if this is possible?

What did she know that you found surprising?

Could she have read around your condition and treatments or spoken generally to people who treat it in a nosey but not ‘wrong’ way.

But yes there is an electronic trail and the Trusts take this very seriously.

I'm shocked at the post about admin staff doing this, its gross breach of confidentiality and a sackable offence that everyone is aware of so not sure why anyone would do this.

If she's accessed your records electronically there will be a stamp in her activity and you will be able to see if she's searched for, and looked at your records. That's presuming she has access to do so via trusts etc.

Surely the logical thing is to wait until she next brings something up and just say "How do you know that? I never told you that" and then either she will say that it's standard treatment or whatever for x or she'll get very uncomfortable and you'll have your answer? No need to jump to the worst case straight away!

Dietitians work as part of MDTs. There is every chance she has picked up knowledge of other areas through multi-disciplinary team meetings. I've attended a few as a student on placement and learnt a lot.

@CantChatNow

Surely the logical thing is to wait until she next brings something up and just say "How do you know that? I never told you that" and then either she will say that it's standard treatment or whatever for x or she'll get very uncomfortable and you'll have your answer? No need to jump to the worst case straight away!

Why wait?

She could never mention it again and it wouldn't change what she had done or not done already.

If she did access the records she's unlikely to tell OP that outright, so even if she says it's standard knowledge it could be a lie.

If she hasn't accessed the record then there's no issues for her employment. OP should absolutely bring it to the trust's attention though.

To expand on my last comment. I am a speech and language therapy student and sat in a room with gastro, dietitians, pharmacists, physio, occupational therapists discussing a list of individual patients... so you do pick things up from other professions and learn how they work. You also tend to seek advice from each other or pick each other's brains about topics you don't have knowledge on.

Just ask her.

She could have found out from some sort of multidisciplinary meeting if your case was discussed, but she should have declared that she knew you and not been involved in the discussion.

I think you're first port of call should be to call the NHS Trust's PALs department and start the ball rolling with finding out how she did this. They will pass this to the appropriate person to start digging around.

If she's accessed your record she will get found out. Sorry this has happened to you, we health professionals have a responsibility to respect boundaries around legal documents and she's clearly no respect for these.

She is probably interested in that specific area. I have a relative who is a paramedic but he always seems to know the ins and out of cardiology to an astonishing level - it’s because he’s interested, he talks to and makes friends with people in the cardiology team, and has even (through official channels) managed to arrange placements and observations on various types of surgeries. Good Hospitals almost all operate on a learning basis and encourage staff to learn beyond their expertise so it’s quite common for people to have detailed knowledge of things ‘they shouldn’t’.

If she’s a friend just ask her next time how she knows. To be honest in your position, rather than getting her fired, I would be trying to use her knowledge and connections for my benefit.

Sorry your AIBU was is this possible ? Yes it is possible, but absolutely traceable if done on a computer and it really is drummed into you time and again that you should only ever access what you actually need to.

For instance a family member asked me if I could print a form for them as they had lost theirs, I physically could, but wouldn't be allowed even with their verbal consent to access that part of their record because they were not under my care iyswim ?

@marblegarble1

To expand on my last comment. I am a speech and language therapy student and sat in a room with gastro, dietitians, pharmacists, physio, occupational therapists discussing a list of individual patients... so you do pick things up from other professions and learn how they work. You also tend to seek advice from each other or pick each other's brains about topics you don't have knowledge on.

The absolute first and only thing you do at a MDT if you realise a friend or relative is being discussed is excuse yourself.

This happened to me, an ex of BF was telling him all my medical history. I reported her to PALS and she was disciplined, they couldn't tell me exactly what the punishment was.

Wasn’t their a similar thread a few years ago where someone had accessed mental health information of the poster. I’m pretty sure the poster was fighting a cover up by the hospital and had to keep going higher and higher.

OP is going to find it difficult to keep the friendship if she suspects she has looked at her records
Either way, the friendship is over. I doubt that person would forgive OP if she got it wrong.

@ProcrastinationStation3

I don't work in the NHS/healthcare, I am curious is what *@TheMawisbraw* saying correct that you aren't even allowed to look at your own records? If so why? Doesn't GDPR give you the right to see what info is held about you at any time, so why would viewing your own records be sackable?

I don't work in Health, I work in Financial Services, same rules, in our case I guess you could see if any confidential markers such as fraud/money laundering had been applied to your own or a friend/relatives account in addition to being able to see their personal information and financial information.

You are obviously allowed to see your own information held but in order to do so, you need to submit a data request. So, a health care worker can access their own file but only in the same way that everyone else can.

Have you asked her how she knows these details, particularly if you haven't shared them with her? Her response might give you a clue.

@ApolloandDaphne

Before you go in all guns blazing can you consider that she may know things because she is a medical professional rather than because she has accessed your records? Does she know details pertaining to you and you only or general things about your condition?

Yes I agree.

Are you sure that there's no way she could be commenting except to have checked your medical records?

Either way though, if she hasn't done it then an audit won't be an issue for her anyway, as long as her name isn't mentioned as part of the initial complaint.

I work in a similar setting. Everyone knows that you cannot access anyone’s files unless you are working with them and it is appropriate for you to access. I’d even go as far as to say that it’s common sense. If your friend has accessed your records then she shouldn’t be in the role. Peoples data is precious and it doesn’t ‘belong’ to the NHS, your data belongs to you. I would ask her out right if she’s accessed your records. There may be an explanation although I can’t see how. Her reaction should be enough to tell you what you need to do next. If you’re absolutely certain that there is no other way she could have come across this information then I would report/ raise your concerns. You can ask them to be discrete when auditing if you explain the situation. It’s really not right, but reading some of these replies it unfortunately doesn’t seem uncommon!

Does she have another friend who has legitimate access to your file? If so, she could have asked them for information and it would be hard to prove it was taken/used inappropriately.

Personally if she is a friend I would ask her outright how she knows those details and then fire a warning shot across the bows saying you know you could get the sack for this ?

Especially if you are not 100% sure .

Someone losing their job is a very big deal .

Weathersystems
"The absolute first and only thing you do at a MDT if you realise a friend or relative is being discussed is excuse yourself."

well yes and no...although i don't think its relevant in this case as different hospitals. That may work in very large hospitals but i have been on both ends of this in community work and that is not always possible because of the smallness of the teams involved. I have never treated or been treated by a relative but twice I have been involved in the treatment of people who are neighbours. I had to get their recorded consent first and you kind of operate two relationships...an in uniform one where you discuss the treatment and an out of uniform one where you DO NOT.
The third time it was my late husband and I knew ALL the local team very well because I had been their manager before I retired. Again he gave his permission and so did I. I believe in this case that the situation was also flagged to the Caldicott Guardian as we have got a very unusual surname and it would have been on the register of people who had had clinical access permission, which was withdrawn when i retired.
Anyway what i am saying is that when it happens, it is managed very carefully. Oh and PS my midwife cousin delivered both her daughter's children. Again well within what is allowed if managed properly.

@Unsure33

Personally if she is a friend I would ask her outright how she knows those details and then fire a warning shot across the bows saying you know you could get the sack for this ?

Especially if you are not 100% sure .

Someone losing their job is a very big deal .

If she hasn't done it then she won't be sacked and may not even know she was investigated (I know this was said further up thread as well) If she has done it then I would get her sacked in a heartbeat! There are many organisations that cannot operate without the trust of its customers/users and the NHS is one. Misuse of information is unforgiveable...Imagine if your friend knew you had had an abortion (or several)....That you had multiple treatment for STD's because unknown to your partner and children, you were a sex worker... That your partner had beaten you.....that you had been sectioned into hospital because you had a psychotic break and had tried to kill your child.....

and you say that loss of a job is a big deal?

I'm finding this thread really odd! There are pages and pages of posters asking the OP what exactly did her friend know? Was it general stuff that most of us could work out (especially in the medical field) or was it very specific as in appointment dates etc. I cannot see one reply from the OP answering this question.