Should I complain after a nurse shared my 16-year-old's medical details?

[Midglet]

My 16yr old had an incident this week that required medical intervention. They didn’t want people, even immediate family and close relatives, to know until they had underwent the operation and we respected those wishes. However a theatre nurse recognised their name and before my child was even under anaesthetic, the nurse had texted a distant relative of ours and divulged that not only was our child in for an operation , but the nature of such. The child was in theatre for four hours but within twenty mins of them being taken in the distant relative , who doesn’t have our mobile numbers, then started calling the hospital demanding details of our child’s prognosis and treatment. Thankfully we had been tipped off very quickly as the relative started contacting other family members ( who themselves weren’t aware of the situation until they themselves contacted us to see what was happening) and were able to request staff to refrain from divulging such. After several failed attempts the relative then turned up at the hospital and demanded access to our child, by which point they were out of surgery. The ward staff asked our 16 yr old ( with us present) if they would like the relative to gain access and our child immediately burst into tears with the thought …the relative is particularly difficult at the best of times and the children try to avoid all contact by their own choice . Thankfully again the staff were able to refuse the relative entry into the ward (Although our child is 16 and should have been in the adult wards a lack of beds had resulted in them being housed in the children’s ward with better security) . Anyway I am sitting stewing about the actions of this initial theatre nurse divulging private medical information to a third party . I know this is a huge breach of confidence and I hope such would be a disciplinary if I was to raise a complaint but I don’t know if I should . The nurse is a friend of the relative hence why she reached out and my family are divided as whether to take action as it will cause trouble within the wider family. Hubby thinks I should just forget it to keep the peace but I think the theatre nurse should be made aware her actions were totally unacceptable. I’ve never complained about anything before . Your thoughts would be appreciated !

Report it. No second thoughts needed

This is totally basic behaviour for nurses and doctors - she absolutely knew what she was doing and that it was completely unacceptable and inexcusable in any circumstances. She should be sacked.

You’d ‘of’ kicked off ? You’d ‘of been’ ?? If you’re making a complaint make sure you write in correct English.
You ‘kicking off’ would HAVE achieved nothing. The incident needs to be reported.

Please complain, and name the person.
Years ago, I complained to my GP re someone disclosing something. I didn't name the person due to friendship issues. I did agree to my name name being disclosed and the GP gathered the staff and warned everyone re confidentiality and that if he discovered the identity, it would be gross misconduct and dismissal.
A year later, the same person WAS dismissed - for gossiping about someone's terminal cancer.

Gosh she’s lost her pin / job / career what was she thinking ???

I’m a nurse, she needs sacking and striking off the register.

for us to be able to our job as safely and efficiently as possible it’s absolutely vital that our patients trust us with their secrets, the symptoms they would rather hide, the intrusive thoughts they never want to speak allowed, the random objects that went somewhere they shouldn’t.

peoples lives are in our hands, and if we can’t be trusted as a profession lives will be lost or permanently altered due to fear or embarrassment.

im so sorry this happened, and i would report the incident without hesitation.

Another voice to say please report, this is wholly unacceptable. Further, this could have actually been even worse, she could have revealed the location of a child in care or fleeing domestic abuse… all sorts of scenarios…

She could and should lose her job over this breach of confidentiality.

This is a serious breach and I would definitely complain. I discovered a family member was under my team. I let my supervisor know and distanced myself. I told no one outside of my work, but even the family member doesn’t knows I know. Confidently is so important in these roles. She should be fired

OP - your responsibility is to your child.

Your child's confidentiality was breached.

Your child experienced considerable distress at a very vulnerable time as a result - bursting into tears and then the upset and pressure of knowing that the relative was trying to get access to the ward. This was not a victimless act and your Dc was the victim

You cannot ignore what amounts to Gross Misconduct against your child in favour of the 'wider family'. Any 'wider family' should know full well that a HCP has an absolute duty to patient confidentiality and if they make a fuss that is them choosing to make a fuss and be unreasonable. Your child's choice for their operation to be kept private was taken away from them.

Advocate for your child. tell them it was 100% unacceptable and that they should have been safe from this amongst HCPs. And never let them think family fuss is their responsibility. Anyway it was the relative that blew her friend's cover. Had she had any sense she would have recognised her friend's transgression and kept quiet.

You don't have any loyalty to the nurse, you don't know her...your only loyalty needs to be what happened to your child.

Which is deeply shocking, in truth, and I don't know why you are hesitating to report and complain.

I responded earlier without checking , but I've just noticed that the OP has not been back since their first post. This happens so often that I try to remember to check so i don't waste my time reading them.

Please complain

I’m a healthcare professional - this is absolutely a breach of confidentiality and gross misconduct - complain to the hospital and report them to the nursing and midwifery council if they are a registered nurse - Here

Absolutely make an official complaint about this via the hospitals official complaints procedure, which should be advertised on posters eg if you have any compliments or complaints scan this QR code.

This is a severe breach of patient confidentiality and the hospital will have to follow their policies and inform the NMC.

You do need to report this but the staff involved with: refusing this relative access to your child and refusing to give information out to them over the phone, should all have documented this, your child's tearful reaction to seeing them and completed incident forms anyway.

Therefore even if you don't make a complaint she will be investigated and disciplined accordingly. I hope that removes any misplaced guilt you may have. You do need to complain but before you do ask if incident forms have been completed and the incidents documented. If they haven't you have more misconduct to put in your complaint and if they have followed procedure, then evidence supporting your complaint.

I hope your child is recovering well from the op and the upset this relative caused.

i.e hiding their identity due to friendship issues then enabled them to cause dreadful distress to a person in the worst sort of scenario.

This is why the OP's nurse needs to be stopped. Now.

Agree this needs to be a complaint. Hope your dc is doing ok now

Absolutely report this and do NOT be fobbed off. Chase it, chase it, escalate it right up to Director of Nursing & Chief Exec if needed. And I’m sure the NMC would be interested too.
Advocate loud and clear for your kiddo on this.

This is a data breach under GDPR.
Contact PALS and the hospital Information Governance Team and raise a complaint.

Take action

Absolutely complain
That is inexcusable

This is so outrageous and difficult to believe it almost feels like one of those threads deliberately set up for a gotcha dripfeed.

As a nurse I would urge you to complain. She had broken the NMC code and needs to be held to account. God only knows what other dodgy things she’s been up to!

A million percent you need to complain!
This is VERY serious safeguarding issue without even going down the breach of data protection.
That nirse is a professional and therefore her conduct should be as such. Your child is not idol gossip ffs!

Absolutely contact the NMC. You can look up their registration on the NMC website using their name. Outrageous behaviour.

Hope you've successfully made yourself feel above this internet stranger. Though you are on Mumsnet on a Saturday just like them.