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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to be annoyed at people reading my notes?

54 replies

NotTHATmental · 17/05/2009 23:23

Have used my "spare" name for this as don't want to get anyone into trouble...

Last night, my friend was drunk at my house and said she had a confession to make. She has looked up my notes on the social work computer system (she is some kind of clerical assistant for children's services). She was laughing when she said this, and said she had done it a while ago and had been dying to tell me. she says there is nothing bad on there and in fact it says that I am a very capable mother and there is no need for concern, plus the names of the social workers who have been involved with my family (due to my mental health issues, we have been checked up on a couple of times).

At the time, i was a little bit shocked, but said i didn't mind as I knew there was nothing bad on there anyway. but now I think about it, I am a bit annoyed. i don't want people I know to be able to look up details of my family!

This has happened before, with my mental health notes, my mum is a mental health nurse and a couple of times has let slip that she knows when my next doctors appointment is, before I have even got the letter! So I know she is reading my notes too.

AIBU to expect these things to stay between me and the relevant people? I know these two people could lose their jobs over this, and there was nothing I didn't want them to know in the notes (at least I don't think there was-I've not read the notes myself so not sure what is in them, and have very poor memory of what i get up to during an "episode")but still, it's not good is it?

OP posts:
savoycabbage · 18/05/2009 09:47

YANBU. It's an awful thing to happen to you. I would feel dreadful if this had happened to me.

The way she told you was disgusting too

She does deserve to loose her job. I wouldn't want her to work anywhere she could access information about me! You should really think hard about reporting her.

I am so shocked.

EachPeachPearMum · 18/05/2009 09:53

Abysmal behaviour- report her please.

treedelivery · 18/05/2009 10:18

Report her. If you have worries about getting her in trouble, then tell yourself it might trigger the bodies involved to review their safety and notes protocols.

Stayingsunnygirl · 18/05/2009 10:24

This is appalling, and a total breach of confidentiality, and I am shocked by this.

I'm more shocked that LOLWUT thinks that the OP is being unreasonable!!

StealthPolarBear · 18/05/2009 10:25

Well I'm sure you know this by now but YADNBU!
I work with huge amounts of data in the NHS (all of the hospital records for the entire county as well as others) so it's inevitable that I will deal with data relating to friends and colleagues. It is completely against all confidentiality rules to go fishing and we are all very good at adhering to both the rules and the spirit of the rules iyswim. It's only ever happened once in the last 5 years that something has caught my eye by chance that I've recognised - it was a HV home visit and it was to me

TotalChaos · 18/05/2009 10:25

yanbu. i think you should report her. if you report her I imagine the IT department can look into whether she makes a habit of looking at records she has no business to be dealing with. in both NHS and Police it is a disciplinary matter to be looking at records for non-work related purposes.

minesacheeseandpicklesandwich · 18/05/2009 10:28

Agree with pretty much everyone here - report her, please. And FFS tell her that you've done it because you don't think much of her behaviour as a human being, let alone a friend!

She laughed when she told you? Because she thought it was funny or because she was embarrassed? And as for your mum... if it was mine, well, she'd be explaining the screaming and shouting to the neighbours for quite some time!!

traceybath · 18/05/2009 10:29

I would definitely speak to someone and say you are concerned that your records have been accessed by someone.

I know in banks they can tell when someone has accessed a file on a database and take appropriate action.

Your friend and mother have behaved very unprofessionally and also been very disloyal to you.

MmeLindt · 18/05/2009 10:31

I can understand that you might not want to get your friend and your mum into hot water.

They have both been very unprofessional and it is worrying how easily they seem to have gotten access to notes.

I do think that you need to have words with them and perhaps even think about getting advice about how to stop this happening again.

Surfermum · 18/05/2009 10:37

Absolutely not on. I remember when I desperately needed to know whether dd had a urine infection and the result took days to get to the GP. I knew I could just log on to the system and see for myself .... but it was just a complete no-no. No way would I have done it.

You have some thinking to do. If you report them they may well lose their jobs. Perhaps if you tell them how unhappy you are and that you are thinking about reporting them they will have the shock of their lives and never do it again.

But for the poster who is shocked that a clerical assistant has access to notes - of course they have to have access! They can't do their job without it. They're not less trustworthy with confidential information just because they are a clerical assistant (although the person in this case clearly is).

TheProvincialLady · 18/05/2009 10:46

When I was temping I had access to online patients' notes (mental health) but the system logged who had been looking at what information and if I had been caught looking at anything I had no reason to, I would have lost my job - quite rightly. Whereas with the paper notes I could have grabbed anyone's notes from the file and read them cover to cover without anyone finding out, so in a way the computerised notes were safer.

I agree with surfermum - your friend has committed a gross breach of trust but I assume you would not want her to lose her job over it, so if I were you I think I would have a very firm chat about confidentiality and how it made you feel, and that you were contemplating reporting them. And if she didn't apologise and tried to make out you were unreasonable etc, I would probably make the complaint.

ThePellyandMe · 18/05/2009 10:47

YANBU, that is absolutely disgusting. It's definitely a disciplinary matter.

As an aside I'm a mental health nurse and when we access patients notes online the patients Care-co-ordinater is informed electronically. So there is always a trail of who's accessing who's notes and why. If you don't have good reason to be accessing the notes they can report you.

3littlefrogs · 18/05/2009 10:47

She isn't much of a friend IMO. Awful behaviour. Both she and your mum will have a clause in their contract (which they will have signed) which addresses confidentiality issues. It is a disciplinary offence to access medical records without sound, professional reasons.

3littlefrogs · 18/05/2009 10:51

I have to review clinical notes as part of my job. There is a system in place where the location of (paper) records has to be tracked, I always lock them away if I am out of the office. Electronic access is also logged.

In my Trust, 2 members of staff were disciplined recently and given a formal warning for accessing records without good cause. And that was for looking up lab results.

ThingOne · 18/05/2009 11:01

YANBU. Shocking behaviour.

toddlerama · 18/05/2009 11:03

Not cool at all. I don't know how good a friend this is so maybe you don't feel you can be frank with her, but I would tell my mum explicitly that I don't want her poking through my notes for any reason whatsoever. I would imagine you now feel guarded with doctor and social worker and that is a very bad consequence to someone titting about and breaking their code of conduct.

nickschick · 18/05/2009 11:24

Im shocked and sad that your 'friend' and your mum do this.

abraid · 18/05/2009 11:26

Does anyone believe that a national database of anything could be safe? Imagine when we have ID cards and people can snoop and pry.

BillSilverFoxBuchanan · 18/05/2009 11:27

YANBU - not even slightly.

I'd be absolutely livid and appalled tbh.

bigchris · 18/05/2009 11:30

yanbu! how unprofessional

I always wondered this. My friend works in a bank at which i have a savings account for me and 2 separate ones for my kids. Do you think she can just type my name into her computer and find out what savings we have?

purpleduck · 18/05/2009 11:40

YANBU
For what its worth, I think your friend probably knew this, and was confessing to ease her guilt.
I would just say "Remember the time you told me you had looked at my notes? I appreciate your concern, but could you please...DON'T""

And tell your Mum too. Terrible behaviour from both of them.

ThingOne · 18/05/2009 11:41

Indeed abraid. I have no faith at all that the system will be safe.

MmeLindt · 18/05/2009 12:11

bigchris
Yes, I am sure that your friend can access your bank details. As long as she is not going to friends and saying, "You will never believe that BigChris has got £xxx in her savings account" then there is not much you can do about it.

snorkle · 18/05/2009 12:38

There are rules about not doing that sort of thing bigchris. I used to work at BT and it was a sackable offense to look up phone or address info without having a legitimate reason to. There were some measures in place to try & track if staff did it anyway, but it didn't stop everyone.

SparklingSarah · 18/05/2009 13:13

this is a sackable offence as it ought to be.

You can speak to your main care providers and request your notes are blocked.
When you begin work in the NHS you are asked to disclose any family mebers or friends that you may come into contact with, I used to work in a practice where a couple of people I knew were treated - if I came across them within work then I'd not be able to access them and had to delegate the job.

This is out of order.