NHS staff ‘snooping’ in patient records to be suspended immediately after Southport victims' trust 'abused'

NHS staff suspected of inappropriately accessing patient medical records will be suspended immediately and have their access to health service computer systems cut off.

There have been “too many cases” of workers “abusing” trust, according to NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey.

He also warned “snooping” could cost staff their career, and said they could end up with a criminal record.

Launching the crackdown, Sir Jim has written to all NHS trusts demanding the new approach is implemented in a bid to protect patients from further breaches. It follows a number of high-profile cases of staff snooping in recent months.

In May it emerged that dozens of staff at University Hospitals of Liverpool Group had looked at the records of victims of the 2024 Southport attack which left three girls dead and 10 others injured.

The brutal knife attack took place at a children’s dance event in Southport. Three young girls, Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar and Bebe King, were murdered, and 10 other people were physically injured – 16 others survived but continue to live with profound psychological injuries.

The records of a three-year-old boy hurt after falling into a crocodile pit in Cambridgeshire in June were also viewed by around 40 hospital staff.

In Nottingham, 11 workers were dismissed and a further 14 had action taken against them after they accessed the records of students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and grandfather Ian Coates, who were stabbed to death by Valdo Calocane in 2023.

Sir Jim said: “Patient records contain some of the most private information people will ever share.

“We have seen too many cases of people abusing that trust, and enough is enough.

“If someone is suspected of snooping, we cannot leave them in post with access to patients’ records while an investigation takes days or weeks.

“From now on, we will expect them to be suspended and have their access to NHS systems cut off immediately, while the facts are established.

“Anyone who thinks they can satisfy their curiosity by looking at a patient’s record should know this: they will be found out, they may lose their career and could end up with a criminal record.”

The NHS launched a national campaign in the summer in a bid to tackle inappropriate access to patient records which reminded staff of the consequences of snooping.

Guidance has also been issued to NHS organisations to prevent it happening, as well as steps to monitor, investigate and report inappropriate access.