Peter A Clarke

Hospital staff checking out records of the rich and famous is a depressingly common occurrence. It is a serious data breach. I have been posting on, only some, of these instances such as Data breach at the Alfred by curious pharmacist is just another in a long line of data breaches in the health sector last year and Privacy concerns regarding data breaches in the health system, hospitals in particular in 2014. There are many others such as Perth Hospital staff snooped on 40 patients’ records in 2018. There are challenges in the hospital system keeping records secure and away from prying eyes. There is usually a large number of staff with significant churn.  Properly training new staff and providing refresher training requires good administration.  Health professionals are famously independent which can translate to regarding privacy rules as being burdensome and not relevant to them. With digitisation records can be accessed from multiple locations unless there are strong password protections (and the passwords are kept confidential).  Having embedded privacy protections, including passwords, restricted authorisations, proper protocols and training are key to maintaining data security.  Also having programs to notify of unauthorised access is vitally important as well.

The Times (and the Australian, the ABC, the SMH, the Mirror and others) reports on at least one staff member of the London Clinic being caught trying to get access to Kate’s notes.

The Times article provides:

The private hospital where the Princess of Wales had abdominal surgery has launched an investigation into claims that her confidentiality was breached while she was a patient.

At least one staff member at the London Clinic was said to have been caught trying to get access to Kate’s notes.

The hospital, which is also where the King received treatment for an enlarged prostate, is understood to have launched an inquiry. Kensington Palace said: “This is a matter for the London Clinic.”

The Daily Mirror quoted an insider saying: “This is a major security breach and incredibly damaging for the hospital, given its unblemished reputation for treating members of the royal family…. senior hospital bosses contacted Kensington Palace immediately after the incident was brought to their attention.” The insider said staff were “hurt that a trusted colleague could have allegedly been responsible for such a breach of trust and ethics”.

The London Clinic said it “firmly believes that all our patients, no matter their status, deserve total privacy and confidentiality regarding their medical information”.

The princess, 42, had planned abdominal surgery on January 16 at the private hospital in Marylebone, central London, and spent two weeks there before being ­discharged. The precise nature of her condition has not been revealed.

The royal family has long favoured the clinic for its discretion. The late Queen and Prince Philip were treated there, as were former prime ministers including Clement Attlee and Anthony Eden.

However, it is not the first time that the princess has been subject to a privacy breach while staying in hospital. In 2012 Kate was hospitalised for severe morning sickness and was treated at King Edward VII hospital in London. However, an Australian radio station duped the hospital with a prank call with tragic consequences.

The radio station hoax led the hospital to divulge details about Kate’s private medical condition which made headlines around the world. A nurse who was tricked into ­answering the questions from the bogus callers, who were pretending to be William’s father and grandmother, later took her own life.

Kate and William said that they were “deeply saddened” by the death of the nurse, who was married with two children.

Kensington Palace has been drawing up plans for the Princess of Wales to make a “soft return” to public life after her recuperation. In an attempt to manage the “messaging” surrounding Kate’s return to official duties, a team is understood to be working to ensure that the transition back into royal working life goes as smoothly as possible.

Aides have been speaking to Kate about the possibility of her walking to church on Easter Sunday to join other family members for the annual Easter matins service which takes place at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.

Such a “soft return” over the Easter weekend could be followed by a break with her children during the school holidays. There could be a return to royal duties for Kate at the start of the new school term. The children return to Lambrook School on April 17.

When Kate does return to official engagements, she is expected to focus on her early years project, which has been described by aides as “her life’s work”.

A royal insider said that her comeback was “something which has focused minds right from the beginning”.

After the various conspiracy theories which have been circulating online, however, insiders say that “an even sharper focus” is now required.

Footage published by The Sun showed the Prince and Princess of Wales on a trip to their local Windsor Farm Shop near the Wales’s home at Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor Estate. Kate was seen walking at a brisk pace and carrying a large shopping bag.

The video, initially at least, appeared to dispel concerns about the princess’s condition.

Even the new footage appeared to be under scrutiny, however, with seemingly authoritative figures questioning whether it was truly the princess in the video.

A BBC sports presenter appeared to give credence to the online conspiracy theories. Writing on Twitter/X, Sonja McLaughlan said: “It’s so obviously not Kate. Some newspapers reporting it as fact. But it’s not her. No conspiracy theorist but all very odd.”

Kensington Palace has declined to comment on the video footage and have continued to say throughout Kate’s convalescence that she is “doing well”.

The plan to manage the communication to the public was dealt a blow when the Palace released a Mother’s Day photo which picture agencies later pulled because it had been “manipulated at source”.

In a personal statement the following day, the princess admitted editing the photograph of her with her three children and apologised for the “confusion”.

Throughout her recovery, the Palace has maintained its position that the princess would only return to duties “after Easter”.

On January 17, the day after the princess was admitted to the London Clinic for planned abdominal surgery, a Kensington Palace statement said: “Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter.”

Speaking about her planned return to work, Dickie Arbiter, a former press secretary to the late Queen, said: “Here we are, a couple of weeks away from Easter and my guess is that she will be on parade when the family go to church on Easter Sunday.”

He added: “People were gobsmacked at the fact that they were there [shopping at the Windsor Farm Shop], but it did show that she was looking pretty good.

“She’s walking, she’s smiling, she looks happy. William looks happy too. So she’s well on the road to recovery and is going to meet that Easter deadline.”

In the meantime Prince William, 41, continued with his own engagements, making a visit to Sheffield where there were two major developments in his Homewards campaign to end homelessness.

DIY retailer Homebase has pledged £1 million to provide up to 1,500 “home starter packs” for paint and soft furnishings for families struggling to furnish their homes when they move in.

A collaboration with Sheffield landlords will see them collectively pledge 33 three and four-bedroom properties for homeless families or those who might be at risk of becoming homeless.

Kwajo Tweneboa, a housing campaigner, said that the prince was “one of the most famous people on the planet” and was “to be applauded” for his work to end homelessness.

Tweneboa, 25, experienced homelessness from the age of 12 and at one point was living in a storage container with his family.

He said that people “up and down the country” were “living in slum-like conditions”. Through the course of his work Tweneboa said that he had “visited homes riddled with damp and mould, a lady with a young child living with a cockroach infestation so bad for ten years that I left with cockroaches on me.”

A well-wisher, Peter Brownley, 61, told William that he was a supporter of the royal family and had sent the Princess of Wales a “get well soon” card. “You really are very kind”, he replied.

Joining a meeting of the Homewards Sheffield local coalition at the Millennium Gallery, the prince discussed ways to end homelessness.

When the topic of childhood was raised by Kate Joseph, chief executive of Sheffield city council, William immediately turned the conversation to the success of Kate’s early years project.

“Venturing into my wife’s territory here,” he said, holding his palms out and smiling. “She needs to be sat here to hear this.”

We are led to believe that soon, barring any advice to the contrary, she will be.

The Australian article provides:

The London Clinic, where The Princess of Wales was treated for a planned abdominal surgery in January, has launched an investigation over claims that at least one staff member was caught trying to access the 42-year-old’s private medical records, The Mirror reports.

An unnamed source told The Mirror, “This is a major security breach and incredibly damaging for the hospital, given its unblemished reputation for treating members of the Royal Family.

Bosses have reportedly launched a probe into claims that the Princess of Wales’s confidentiality was breached while she was a patient in January.

Hospital administrators wasted no time in reaching out to Kensington Palace to apprise them of the breach and assure them of a thorough investigation.

 “Senior hospital bosses contacted Kensington Palace immediately after the incident was brought to their attention. They assured the palace there would be a full investigation,” the insider said.

The London Clinic declined to comment on the alleged security breach, but a spokesman told the The Mirror, “We firmly believe that all our patients, no matter their status, deserve total privacy and confidentiality regarding their medical information.” Kensington Palace responded, stating, “This is a matter for The London Clinic.”

In the UK, it is a criminal offence for any staff in an NHS or private healthcare setting to access the medical records of a patient without the consent of the organisation’s data controller.

Both the King and the Princess of Wales entrusted their care to The London Clinic, the private hospital which has treated the late Queen, Prince Philip, JFK, and a host of politicians and celebrities, including Elizabeth Taylor.

The alleged security breach surfaces after the Prince and Princess of Wales were pictured grocery shopping at their local farm shop over the weekend. It marked the first public sighting of Kate, save for two blurry paparazzi pictures of her in the car with her mother near her home in Windsor, since undergoing surgery in January and last week’s photoshop controversy.