Nurse suspended for sharing private medical records
GettyA nurse who repeatedly accessed a patient's private medical records has been suspended for 12 months.
Lynne Preston was based at a surgery in Keighley when she viewed the man's records on three occasions "without clinical justification".
A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing heard she later shared the details with others on one or more occasions, causing the patient "significant distress and psychological harm".
The NMC panel ruled her actions had fallen "significantly short of the standards expected of a registered nurse".
Ms Preston was working as a community staff nurse for Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust when she accessed the records of a man - referred to as Patient A - three times between 29 February and 2 March 2020, the fitness to practice hearing was told.
She admitted two counts of accessing the records at the outset but claimed the first time she viewed the information was as part of a review she had been asked to carry out by a nurse at another practice.
The panel heard, however, that Ms Preston had accessed records dating back to 2015.
The tribunal was also told she had shared details of Patient A's medical history with "numerous third parties" and a friend.
In reaching its finding, the panel said Patient A had "a right to trust that the practitioners with access to his medical information would treat this information with respect and confidentiality".
In a note to the NMC, Ms Preston admitted she had broken that trust "to the detriment of him and others who expect better of the nursing profession".
The panel said that while a striking-off order would be wholly disproportionate, a suspension order with a review for a period of 12 months was appropriate.
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