NHS patient confidentiality breached 5 times every week

This is why the Coalition’s revival of the NHS Summary Care Database that goes against both Conservative and Liberal Democrat Party Manifestos is so disgraceful. Thanks once again Big Brother Watch for showing how dangerous large databases are in relation to individual freedom and privacy.

You can rest assured that some sections of the NHS are now busy straining gnats so that they can appear to be extremely concerned about the security of patients records. I know this for a fact because my daughter, a dedicated hard worker in the NHS, is being dragged over the coals by her branch of the NHS in North Staffs (a notoriously inefficient group that those with long memories will remember for being found guilty of possessing one of the filthiest hospitals in UK recorded history and numerous resultant deaths!). The individual involved in the witch-hunt against my daughter waited until she was concussed after a blow to the head before preventing her obtaining the further medical attention she needed so that she could pursue a vendetta against her and grill her about ‘missing patient records’. These 24 (or so) sets of notes could have been lost in any number of circumstances since the predecessor (in the job subsequently occupied by my daughter) left the position and notes she should have handed over (considerably more than 24 sets) were never located. During the initial investigation my daughter’s boyfriend was allowed to take other notes that she did hold at home (under lock and key as part of her normal, approved, North Staffs/NHS working methods) to the manager who put in the complaint against my daughter. This manager then discussed some of the records with a colleague in front of the boyfriend using the names of some of the patients and thus breaking another north Staffs/NHS guideline! There are many other aspects to this case which the powers that be will doubtlessly gloss over in their attempt to maintain the high moral ground. For instance, we know that they have already ‘quietly’ attempted to silence those who might have been thinking of coming forward to expose the whole situation (much as Tevez’s Manchester City team-mates never ‘heard’ him to refusing to ‘play’ so there were no corroborating witnesses to that debacle) by warning them of the consequences (overall patient record-keeping in that establishment was a recognised ‘joke’) if they get involved. I have already written a letter of complaint to the ‘managers’ involved and their attempted answers were laughable. The good news is that my daughter has a barrister defending her in the impending ‘investigation’ but she has already lost one job she had set her heart on as a result of an ‘Addendum’ written by North Staffs to a potential employer, before anything has been proven in this investigation! Despite this she has been accepted for every job she has applied for since leaving North Staffs and has worked constantly, although having to put herself out and suffering reduced income as a result. For anyone thinking she is ‘lucky’ to have a job I would ask them to investigate the level of security that may be employed by their authorities. Here in Cardiff, for example, you can hang around the different areas handling patients in the University Hospital, Heath, and find that patient records are transported in an unlocked supermarket trolley! This is the kind of record handling that was employed where my daughter worked – and absolutely anyone could have taken the ‘missing records’ and no one can prove when they went missing. I can put the details of this farce on the Internet when my daughter’s case is concluded, but it will probably just join the long list of similar horror stories that will not cease – even if huge sums are paid out in compensation after lengthy court cases that cost our cash-strapped, inefficient NHS, more funds that should go to improving services and rescuing patients from the incompetent muppets running the present show.

@Jodunkley11 – what a totally dreadful and unacceptable situation to have found yourself in. The hospital’s reaction is so typical and does nothing to promote or satisfy data protection. Have you made a complaint about this to the Information Commission? If not you might want to consider it because the hospital would then have to justify its actions to some degree. If the person doing this and breaching your confidentiality is using data obtained from the hospital then it is very much a case for the hospital to deal with. Perhaps writing directly to the Chief Executive and informing him/her that you are contacting the Information Commissioner would help to move things along. The Information Commission telephone helpline (details on their website) http://www.ico.gov.uk can assist you with advice about how to make a complaint. Good luck.

In my own case relating to breaches of my data in the NHS I made formal complaints to the Information Commission and they found in my favour. I removed my records from the hospital (their lawyers agreed that this was reasonable given their inability to keep my data confidential) however the hospital did not improve their ways and seemed to learn little or anything from the investigation. Further breaches happened but nobody seems to really care about the damage that this does to individuals and how difficult it makes it to trust e.g. those in the health profession – so difficult to go to the doctor for treatment when you are worried about confidentiality.

Staff probably do access information on a daily basis but there is a huge lack of knowledge with the staff. It cannot be deemed to be the staffs fault each trust will have hundreds of policies and procedures making it virtually impossible for the staff to know them or to follow them all. The trusts and the managers need to take responsibility for their staffs lack of knowledge and start making each staff member who has access to computerised records to under take on-line modules on the information governance site which has now improved my knowledge substantially to know what I can and what I cannot access. The trusts will happily sack staff but do not take any responsibility for it so it will continue to happen.

For a short time I was a security guard on a secure forensic mental health unit. When on reception I had access to every physical file on every patient and all their current status and treatment. This was due to the security reception being located in the secretarial office. No kind of security on the files at all just left there for any of us to view. No doubt much of the information could have been passed to the press if they had ever offered. Not that I would have done that. I only stayed a short while there, the staff were madder than the patients.