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 !

Is this in the UK? If yes it obviously is a breach of confidentiality and a sackable offence.
Report them.

If you don't work in healthcare you may not know quite how seriously this is taken. For example, all test results are tracked with audit logs of who accessed them and at what time. This breach is, rightly, a sackable offence.

Do not feel conflicted - it is drummed into staff through mandatory training. Examples are given of incidents in which staff were sacked. She has made a very poor decision.

Adding my voice. Definitely complain. The nurse has made a stressful time even more stressful and your DC now knows that the wider family know information they wanted kept private. Yes the nurse might lose their job but that is because of their own actions not yours for reporting

I would absolutely complain. It has caused you and your daughter distress but could compromise safety if she does this to someone else. So unprofessional and simply dangerous. If you know that the nurse texted a relative and the relative rang the hospital then there might be some proof. I hope your daughter is ok

I work for the nhs and agree this should definitely be reported BUT it will be extremely hard to prove as she hasn't left a digital footprint as recognised the child in person

Absolutely dreadful. I'd definitely complain!

Complain

There is clear evidence from the statements of the patient and mother here. They might find breaches on access to other patient records when they investigate. She may have had previous warnings. It’s not just a case of pretending you’re innocent and you won’t get caught.
Regardless of what might or might not be the outcome. Reporting her is the only correct course of action here regarding duty of care.

definitely report this

You must report this

That’s pretty outrageous. I feel angry on your behalf.

Hope your son/daughter is ok.

Yes complain it is gross misconduct and they will rightly lose their job. I hope your child is ok

Definitely report.

Not the point but how did the nurse get a random number and why did she contact a non next of kin member of family?

Most importantly, I hope your child is doing ok.

Report report report.

Report!

Write down details of everything that happened so it's remembered and then write a proper letter to PALs or whoever it is, trying to keep emotion to a minimum for clarity sake.

As they should!

https://www.nmc.org.uk/concerns-nurses-midwives/raise-a-concern/

Which would be entirely of her own doing, no?

"The nurse is a friend of the relative... 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"

What exactly would you be keeping the peace for?
The peace has already been broken! By the Relative! And so what if it does cause trouble in the wider family. Maybe its High time it did. Maybe the wider family could do more to restrain this relatives actions. In any case, the relative is completely in the wrong here.

Your DC has been very upset and has had to give permission to deny the relative access. That's awful for them

You said earlier "the relative is particularly difficult at the best of times and the children try to avoid all contact by their own choice"

The relative has completely overstepped the mark on this one. If you keep the peace, will they be turning up at your home whiilst your DC is still in recovery? Or being intrusive about it in other ways once your DC is up and about.

I don't know what reporting would mean for you, so can't comment.

But Ithink it makes the breach of confidentiality worse that the Nurse is a friend of your relative. She may even know that you find this relative difficult.
It's not that the relative bumped into the nurse at the hospital and innocently said how is the DC. The nurse alerted the relative to the whole situation which they otherwise would not have known.

I wish your DC a speedy and quiet recover

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Yes, complain. Let the trust deal with it, the consequences are not your concern.

ita v odd behaviour from a distant relative though. Is it your child’s biological father? Or grandparent?

Not saying it’s ok, just trying to understand why the nurse felt compelled to tell a distant relative.

Absolutely report. To the hospital and the NMC. There is simply no excuse for this. The nurse was fully aware of what they were doing and the implications of this. The reaction and behaviour of your family member is the perfect example of why those rules are in place. If the nurse could do it for your child they could readily do it for someone experiencing domestic violence- they have demonstrated that they have no understanding of the many reasons why that rule is in place.

I am so sorry that this happened to you and your child xxx

Report her. Look at this from your 16 year old's point of view; they wanted to keep the operation/their medical details private; by not reporting the nurse you're not supporting the child's wishes.

how does everyone know it’s a dd? I’ve read the o/p and can’t see the sex mentioned?

I’m also a bit confused- if this is a “distant relative”, how was the theatre nurse aware of the link? How was a distant relative able to call and demand updates, and access to a patient just out of theatre?

not to mention why on earth they thought it was their business. What sane person turns up without an invite for a distant relative, let alone think they have any right to their medical information.

but yes, this needs reporting.

I would ABSOLUTELY go off about this. What a fucking idiot! I’m sorry your kid’s privacy wasn’t respected and I hope they recover quickly.

Please do report this. It's an absolutely unacceptable breach of patient confidentiality and the nurse needs to be disciplined.

I'm assuming the distant relative is on your husband's side? Did the nurse know you were estranged? Because that makes it even worse imo.