AIBU to try and find out if my medical records have been wrongly accessed?

[Starrynight567]

I can't go into detail as to why I'm asking, as I may out myself, but I'm suspicious that my exH's now wife could've accessed my medical records, and I'm wondering whether I can find out if she has?
I've been separated from exH for 12 years, and he met his wife about ten years ago. In the time that they've been together his wife has caused a lot of trouble and plainly doesn't like the fact her H shares DC's with me, and has tried to ruin the relationship they have with their dad. Also, she can't abide me, even though I've done nothing to her.
So much has gone on that I can't go into, but I'm now at the point of being really concerned that she could've looked through my medical records. She's a nurse, and I know it's strictly prohibited for anyone to access medical records if they have no need to, but I believe she's brazen enough to do it.

I'm wondering how I can go about finding out, even if just to put my mind at rest, and how far back can they check to see who has actually looked at my records do you know? Thanks

If OP is wrong, how is it risking her exH's wife's job? OP being wrong means that this woman hasn't seen or applied to see OP's medical records so why would anything happen to her?

Your best bet is to approach the Trust’s Information Governance team - their email should be on their website - with a query similar to the one you posted on here, without the back story.

You have reason to suspect a member of their staff has accessed your records, because she has said to one of your relatives that suggests she knows something that no-one else but you and the hospital does, and ask for their advice on how to proceed. Tell them that it’s a delicate situation that you don’t want her to know about unless there’s proof of wrongdoing, and then see what they suggest.

Ignore the “get on with your life” posters. All NHS staff know thar accessing records without specific reason is gross misconduct.

Not sure this is relevant but I get a notification via the NHS app when the Dr (or medical staff at the surgery) go into my records (but I’ve had no treatment at a hospital so don’t know if that would show). E.g. I got a notification that they had updated my notes with my latest blood pressure reading that I had sent in (via the klinik link)

It's really not that simple to access medical records unless you were being treated for something in her department?

Paper records are stored in the main hospital notes record department and requested by different areas when you attend. So unless they had been requested, she would have no chance.

GP records she could view if she had access to the GP record system for whatever reason. But lots of people do have access.

But for example, it's a sackable offence to view medical records of people your not treating so I think its highly unlikely she would have risked it however curious!

How is someone who has done nothing wrong be at risk if the OP asks who has accessed her records?

Does anyone else know about this specific health info?

If she has looked at your records, depending on which system is used, then her initials would come up to show that she has logged into your records. Is she a surgery nurse or a hospital nurse?

This sure not impossible but there is no way I would say this has happened everything is tracked and there is red tape to access them in the first place

But you may get help by searching on here as I am sure there was very similar thread about a year ago or so, so that may give guidance

I’d make pretty certain you’re not overreacting first. She will know she’s been investigated and I imagine that will definitely affect your relationship with ex DP.

If that accusation was made to my partner and I felt it was malicious (and you don’t have a good relationship already) you’re damn right you’d be on the ‘minimal contact’ ‘in writing/text/app’ about the kids only and the kids would know why given fheir ages.

sorry she sounds like a nightmare. I’m not sure if SAR (or any request) will tell you who accessed your records, but worth a shot with a SAR. I’m not sure what you will gain from knowing this information. assume she has, What would you do about it? Are you concerned she might try and use it against you or are you looking for a way to get her in trouble?

If someone I knew made a comment about my health that they shouldn’t know about I’d be asking for a search to be done on my medical records, just in case, if she has looked then she deserves to be sacked. This would be a huge breach of confidentiality.

Certainly for my NHS trust there’s two kinds of records, electronic and paper ( case notes ).

Any access to the electronic records will be recorded. That could include appointments to specific clinics which would give whoever is looking a clue to why OP was at the hospital.

The case notes are stored centrally and tracked but while a patient is undergoing treatment, particularly if that includes passing through a few depts, e.g. ITU, ward, follow up treatments , the location of the notes might not be exactly where the tracking system says.

ex-H wife might have stumbled across the case notes as part of her normal job, or she might have deliberately accessed the electronic records on the patient system.

The latter would be recorded.

As a PP has said I think contacting the hospitals PALS team would be the way to proceed.

@Starrynight567 - when I log on to my medical portal, as a patient (though can't remember now if it's the GP or hospital sites), there is an 'audit trail' section where I can see when and where my records have been accessed. It doesn't show the name of the person accessing but the location and department (or something similar). Might be worth seeing if your portal has a similar functionality

I’m a nurse. From the systems we use at our Trust I can see the records of anyone that has visited our Trust. I can also use another system that will give me access to see some aspects of your GP care and consultation letters from other Trusts. So it’s not as hard as you think to view people’s records. And yes, the IT team can see if you have accessed a persons records if asked, you leave a digital footprint each time you look at a record. If you have concerns raise them, if she’s looking at yours, she could be looking at friends/family/neighbours and she is absolutely not allowed to do that. It’s a breach of trust and against her NMC code of conduct.

But you are accusing her. And she may well have done nothing wrong.
What steps have you taken so far to check if she has accessed your records?

As a nurse myself I'm quite shocked at the posters saying move on with your life etc. not many trusts use paper records anymore, a lot are going/gone digital. I could look at a patients record and see absolutely everything they've been investigated for, I don't need to get permission to do this. I could see people's blood results going back years and years. This is a serious breach of trust and confidentiality is hammered into us as students. The fact she has asked your dc questions about your health tells me she has accessed your records. No individual nurse will be informed if a patient has requested this info so there's no risk of unnecessarily getting her into trouble. And if she has accessed them then quite rightly be sacked.

I would complain to her place of work, they will do an investigation the NHS is very strict on this kind of stuff. They will be able to see through her computer login if she has looked or not looked

I used to work in pathology, retired in 2017.
Unless it’s changed a lot it was very easy to look at pathology reports, however the password used would be easily traceable.

The naivety on here regarding medical professionals is amusing.
I often had to field phone calls from gp’s, radiographers, and hospital medical staff asking for their family members blood results and getting stroppy when told we couldn’t give them.
A senior manager in pathology asked a colleague to access the blood results of her (senior managers) teenage dd, I heard her and referred her to another manager as she put the young member of staff in a difficult position.

Just because people shouldn’t access records doesn’t mean they won’t.

If you do a SAR you can ask specifics - so you could say you want to know who’s accessed your medical records specifically.
I totally get where you’re coming from my (now X)MiL accessed mine when I was pregnant and shared the information with another family member. I didn’t report it because she would have lost her job but I made it clear I wasn’t happy. You’re entitled to peace of mind, and if she did it and loses her job, well no one forced her to look at your records.

I would go to PALS & say you have suspicions that this woman has accessed your medical notes. Give her name, ask for a SARS & for this to be looked in to.

Ask for a reply.

In Scotland (don’t know about England) hospital staff can access some GP notes including list of medication, current and previous illness and any referral letters.
We can’t access EMIS without being a password by the practice manager.

Are you sure it isn’t something that could have been passed onto her by your kids, ex DH or a mutual acquaintance?

In my local trust there are electronic records, some of which are linked to an online GP record. Anyone clinical such as a nurse would be able to just type in a name and search. Unless you've had an admission there probably wouldn't be much on there though.

A record is kept of who accesses which notes, which documents they looked at, how long for, was it printed etc. There are some sensitive documents that not everyone has access to but the tracking is very detailed and obviously a disciplinary matter if someone is found out for looking at records they shouldn't.

What? Of course there is an audit trail. Of course there are lots of patient data bases but the person in question will only have access to what they need and it's very easy to check who has had access to what.

Most hospitals are almost fully paperless now so if she accessed paper records there would definitely be an audit trail.

You are free to do a subject access request to see who has accessed your notes, but it is very unlikely that they will do a specific check on a member of staff’s access with absolutely no proof, so I would leave her name out of it.

Are you sure your kids haven’t mentioned your health? That would be more likely.

It’s drummed into all of us that it’s a terrible offence to the extent that it’s really unlikely someone would do this. We aren’t even allowed to access our own or our children’s medical records.