Former NHS secretary found guilty of illegally accessing medical records

November 20, 2023 |

The UK Information Commissioner has released a media release regarding the successful prosecution of a secretary of the National Health Service for illegally accessing medial records of 150 people without authorisation. This ties in with my recent post of a pharmacist being terminated for accessing personal information. It is a fraught issue in the health industry.There is a chronic problem.  One of the many in the health industry when when it comes to privacy. 

The ICO’s media release provides:

A former NHS employee has been found guilty and fined for illegally accessing the medical records of over 150 people.

Loretta Alborghetti, from Redditch, worked as a medical secretary within the Ophthalmology department at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust when she illegally accessed the records.

In June 2019, a complaint was raised by a patient who was concerned that their medical records had been accessed by an employee.
An investigation revealed that Ms Alborghetti had accessed this individual’s records 33 times between March 2019 and June 2019, without consent or a business need to do so.

It further discovered that she had accessed a total of 156 patient records without consent or a business need, viewing them over 1800 times within the three-month period. This included the records of family members and individuals with postcodes local to where she lived at the time.

As part of her role as a medical secretary, Ms Alborghetti was required to access clinical and personal information of patients within the ophthalmology department. However, the individuals whose records were accessed had no medical conditions relating to ophthalmology.

Ms Alborghetti appeared before Worcester Magistrates’ Court on 15 November 2023. Following the investigation from the Information Commissioner’s Office, she pleaded guilty to unlawfully obtaining personal data in breach of Section 170 of the Data Protection Act 2018 and was ordered to pay a total of £648.

 

 

 

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