Healthcare results - let down by friend.

[Foodieasfuck]

I am waiting for some test results. I have an appt to get the results later this month, I confided in my friend who told her husband as “he works at the hospital”. I feel really let down by her for breaking my trust and also I’m now worried that they may know my results before I do. Does anyone know if this is possible?
He works in outpatients if that is relevant.
AIBU for being really pissed off at my friend who has caused me even more worry now. I wished I’d never mentioned it.

There will be a trail if he looks up your results and disciplined and possibly lose his job if he has no clinical reason to look them up. Tell your friend you are disappointed and hope he doesn't look them up as its a serious breach that could get him sacked. Hopefully he is professional and has told her the rules.

And don't confide in her again. Hope you're okay. If you are still worried you can speak to the doctor who did the tests.

Interesting question. I have a friend who works in the NHS and one day, after offering to support me attend my surgery discussion medical appointments, she asked me if I needed her to come with on a particular day, say 'Thursday morning' and said she'd booked the time off.

Well this was very interesting as I did have forthcoming surgery discussion appointments but the Thursday morning one was a completely different issue, non urgent, and I didn't need any emotional support or company. Also I hadn't asked her or mentioned this - I had asked her to come to my next surgery appointment though which was a few days later.

Now I'm suspicious she or someone she knows can see my appointments.

Thank you for responding. That has made me feel a bit better..
I just can’t believe she told him.

I’d be suspicious too littlemisssunshine - it’s a horrible thought isn’t it

Did you tell her she couldn't tell him?

I tend to assume that if I tell one half of a couple something, that they're going to tell their partner, that seems to be how most relationships work.

Very horrible thought - I also once had a friend 'X' who was close friends with the woman who worked as Receptionist in our mutual GP surgery. I'm going back decades now.

Anyhow, she (the receptionist) shared my personal medical information with my friend. Oddly though she didn't name my name, she described me in a particular way that meant my friend 'X' mistook the description for being a third party 'F'.

So next time I saw X she told me all about the medical situation of F which was in fact my own. I asked her if F had informed her all this and she said no, Receptionist, had told her but not to tell anyone. Hmmm.

So I reported this to GP who stated Receptionist would do no such thing, but she had.

What I learned from this incident is if you know someone who works in NHS or your GP or even a paramedic with access to basic info, you have no medical confidentiality.

It's one thing to say well if it was found they'd looked at your records they'd be sacked. But let's say my next door neighbour works for the hospital I'm under, is being nosey / curious, looks up my data, how the heck would I know??? I can't go to the hospital and say I believe on 'x' date my neighbour looked up my info. Ditto GP and paramedics etc.

She could of just told him you were I hospital, maybe ask her what and why she did tell him and just say you'd prefer to keep it private. For him to look up your results he needs your full name and details like date of birth, address, if he has got time and the inclination to do that he would be very foolish, he may have no intention of prying but its unkind of her to add to your worries.

There's regular debates on MN about confidentiality and partners/family. I'm of the 'sharing it with family is fine' camp so I don't think this is an issue, but most people think otherwise. To me, there's a clear difference between talking freely in the family home - which then genuinely goes no further, because all the 'release' has happened, and gossiping with friends.

What makes this okay is:
a) the husband will not be able to access your records without a trail. You can ask for your audit trail yourself to satisfy yourself confidentiality has been maintained. The only way it could remotely happen is if they were in the same dept literally dealing with your care, and this is extremely unlikely
b) never over-estimate how uninteresting your life is to people who are one-step removed from it.
c) really, what harm has been caused by your friend telling her partner? It won't go anywhere further. They were perhaps also wanting to offload their worry about you, which they are (in my mind) allowed to do to their partner. The partner is sufficiently removed not to care personally.
d) the partner will be bound by the ethical framework of their profession, which expressly forbids this behaviour. It's absolutely against the rules and would have consequences. It's never going to be worth the risk taken even if they were curious.

Let it go. It'll be fine, your friend is also still your friend.

I think if you don't want someone to tell their spouse you need to be very specific about it. I've only ever kept one thing from DH as a friend specifically asked and it was about her family so not something I needed support from him about.

YABU

But mainly in the over sensitive way. I'd think lots of people tell their other half things/everything.

Why do you think he'd be interested at all, especially to the extent to look results up and lose his job?

She does know how serious that is, doesn't she? Confidentiality is currently a major, major issue in the NHS, ANYBODY who accesses patient records needs to have a VERY good reason for doing so. She, and he might want to look up the Trust's Information Governance policy and/or the Confidentiality Code of Practice.

Thanks for all the replies and thoughts. I think I’m just fretting and worrying and perhaps being over sensitive. I kept the issue to myself and havnt even told my closest family so it felt odd that someone I don’t know well should know. It was because of the ‘because he works for the hospital’ comment that threw me. It was an odd justification for telling him.

Whilst she may have broken your trust and confided in him I doubt he would look up your results. All access is logged and creates a trail. Looking up someones records out of interest/no clinical justification could easily lose their registration/job.

Such a weird reason to tell him! Why does him working at the hospital mean she needs to tell him? Unless he's the CEO or something and can speed up the process?!

I'm confused, she told you he told her you'd been in hospital. Or you told her you'd been in hospital and from that you think he'll go look up your notes? Why?

I'm an NHS worker and I cannot access records of anyone unless I am part of their care. My child was in the a&e of the hospital I work at, and my other child underwent a removal of a boney growth which was sent off to histology at the hospital I work at and I could not access any information at all. It's a sackable offence and there is always a trail left if anyone accesses anything electronically.

Agree with some of the above. Having myself known some right gossips who work as GP receptionists and at our local hospital. Nothings confidential when staff like gossiping. I got told my sons absent dad had kidney failure from a hospital worker friend and also a friend who works at his GP surgery told me the same thing. I've been told an old friend has depression and tried to kill herself. Been told a few more things too. I moved gp surgery because of my gossipy friend and her colleagues. Didn't want her telling people stuff about me and if mistakes happen they just cover for each other anyway.

You are massively overthinking this. My partner would have absolutely no interest in any of my friends medical issues, certainly not enough to lose a job over!