I’ve reported my friend for an NHS confidentiality breech

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I have a (now ex) friend who works for the NHS who works as a clerical officer who we’ll call Karen. I’m in the early stages of pregnancy and haven’t told anyone other than my dh. Had my first midwife appointment and since this, I’ve had some congratulations texts from people within my friendship group. When I queried how they knew I was pregnant, they said they heard it from Karen. When I asked Karen about this she said she saw it on my file, and shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal. I’m really upset that she’s just looked me up on her hospitals system like this. She works where my appointments are and openly said that she’s done this and has done it to a few of us in the group so she knows what’s going on. It’s my first pregnancy and I’m so anxious and I’m so upset so many people know about it.

At the time I was so angry I instantly filed a complaint to the hospital. Information governance then contacted me to say they’d be conducting an internal audit. This was 3 weeks ago and I’ve not heard anything since. I’m still upset with Karen but I now feel so guilty I’ve done this. I don’t want her to loose her job. Karen knows I’ve done this because I’ve told her and she’s livid and none of our mutual friends are talking to me now.

Is there anyone here who works for the NHS who can explain what happens in these situations? I’m guessing everything is fine because I’ve not heart anything from information governance since but I’m so worried

The OP isn't getting her sacked, if that's what happens it will be because the NHS has followed its procedures for staff who break the rules once they find out about it.

What a strange victim blaming view of the situation

If she's found to have breached confidentiality rules then the woman absolutely should be sacked. It's not the OP's fault that the woman is a nosy cow who couldn't keep her mouth shut.

She needs to leave the job, not as a punishment but because she doesn't seem to understand that while looking at confidential information is wrong, it's another level entirely to share it with others. If she's willing to do that, surely it's evidence that she doesn't think that snooping is anything to be ashamed of. She needs to go to protect others in the future. It's not vindictive.

She absolutely should be sacked for it, and she'll be lucky if she's not prosecuted

Anyone taking her side is an idiot op

Oh, the victim blaming card rolls eyes

To be a victim, you need to have been harmed. OP and others may claim otherwise, but I'm not convinced there was any harm done here, at least not that couldn't have been resolved with a stern conversation.

There’s a big news story on this issue on the BBC News today. Someone accessed the medical records of the poor people who were murdered in Nottingham.

the families consider that a ‘gross invasion of privacy and civil liberty’.

They are right and so are you.

Send your mutual friends this
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c39vd2kjj3lo

I suspect if they’d been on the end of it, they’d be as outraged as you.

As someone else said, you have not got her sacked, she has done that herself.

Good luck with your pregnancy, don’t let this mar it. You’ll make a shed load of new mum friends soon.

The. Law. Has. Been. Broken.

And not a minor one.

Are you the OP's "friend"?

I don't work in the NHS I work in the justice system but similarly the information is sacrosanct it's made so clear when you join. I have led similar investigations and have discussed people for similar even when there was no evidence they'd shared anything. You cannot access highly confidential sensitive information without professional cause. In our line of work you could also face a criminal charge of misconduct in a public office, especially if you share it. I've seen colleagues go to prison over the years (not many it's not common behaviour!) , I'm not sure whether that applies to medical information, we hold a lot of police intel etc.

@BundleOfCookies Do your friends know that she looked them up also?

Do they know that their "friend" now knows about any:
physical problem they are or have gotten treatment for?
psychological problems such as anxiety, depression bi-polar are now hers to share with whomever?

They need to understand that she accessed their medical files. Basically, one needs to assume she knows everything.

I would bet your friends just think it's you she has accessed. If they know and are still pissed-off at you, they are lousy friends. Just think about when she decides to look up their spouses, children. She'd be a vocal Daily Mail.

My friend works in my GP surgery. When I joined, he requested his access to my records be revoked on the system for precisely this reason - because it's not appropriate for him to have access to my records and because that way there could be no question about whether or not he had accessed them.

That’s quite lacking in imagination on your part. This woman has not only read OP’s medical notes when she shouldn’t have, but has also shared what she found there with other people! If OP wanted to tell her OH or her mum first that should have been her prerogative and she now cannot do that. She’s lost a once-only opportunity here because her “friend” was nosy and gossipy. If OP wanted or needed to end the pregnancy, or were to suffer a loss, she’ll now have to deal with telling more people or in the first scenario possibly not feeling able to do what she needed to because of other people already knowing.

Imagine if it were your news. Imagine it were another medical condition- mental health or cancer or sexual health. Would you still fail to see that harm was caused?

If her actions cause her to lose her job, then that’s her own fault. You asked her and bold as brass she shrugged it off. Despite it being illegal, and also in breach of her work policies, she didn’t even have the sense to apologise. That’s on her.

Your friends are probably coming from a position of disappointment at the fact they’ll no longer have access to ‘the gossip’. They’ve picked the wrong side, and frankly if they don’t have a change of heart they probably weren’t ever your real friends anyway.

I’m so sorry she stole the joy of telling people yourself from you x

Knowing that your medical records aren’t private and are being looked it by somebody you know and shared is harming. Hugely so. It could put her off seeking help for all sorts of things.

So you’d trust that someone who thinks it is OK to do this - and who will have been actively told in all of her training that this is gross misconduct - would not do it again after a friend talks to her?

No way. All that would happen is that she would not tell that friend again she was doing this. She needs dealing with properly. No one wants someone to lose their job lightly but this is gross misconduct.

She’s a sticky beak and is in the wrong job.

This is exactly what should happen

I work in the NHS, they have 28 days to respond to a complaint. So you should hear soon. Accessing patient records when you have no need to, which she did is classed as gross misconduct, at the very least she’ll get a warning. However given the nature of what she’s done she is looking at potential dismissal. It’s her own fault as she will no the consequences of what she’s done, don’t loose any sleep you did the right thing!

How is your conviction on the matter relevant?

Even if you didnt know beforehand all the posts on this thread must have made you aware that unauthorised looking at medical records is a sackable offence in the NHS

Maybe you dont agree with that but it's the way it is and in no circumstance could the person who reports the breach be responsible for the consequences for the person who committed it. How is does that even need to be said?

You don’t need to be convinced of the harm this has caused.

First pregnancy and anxious - it's normal to not tell people until, say, two or three months due to risk of miscarriage, processing a new life course, wanting to travel to tell close relatives first in person before they hear it from others. Taking someone's control away is a destructive breach of friendship and trust, and they can never have this experience again (there's no second first pregnancy). The digital footprint at work may reveal other unrelated breaches, though even one is gross misconduct and not survivable. You need a stern conversation yourself (rolls eyes).

I'm not NHS but a Government Department. We would get dismissed for this (and rightly so!)

To look up the information is already against the rules but to then tell others is darn right stupid.

Your morals are on show. Or lack thereof.

She's totally unsuited to working in a confidential setting and your 'friends' are idiots for siding with her. If they ever have a personal or potentially embarrassing medical issue she'll be violating their privacy too.

This is shocking. As others have said, the NHS treat this very seriously and it is a stackable offence. This is a serious breach of data security and she should be punished. All NHS employees are told not to do this at the very start of their induction into the role. You have done nothing wrong and have nothing to feel bad about.

Sackable*

Does anyone know if GPs can view your medical records if they don’t work at your surgery (but have previously worked at a hospital you attended at a later date)?
Dc2 dad is a GP and very sneaky. I wouldn’t put it past him trying to snoop through my medical records if he had the chance!