NHS England has announced a strict new rule aimed at securing patients' personal information. Under the change, any staff member caught 'snooping' at patients' personal information will face immediate suspension, with their access to NHS computer systems cut off.
NHS England has told trusts to act immediately when staff are suspected of accessing patient records without proper justification. Staff members will be suspended during the investigation, and their access to NHS systems will be paused as part of the rule change.
Zero-tolerance approach amid breach cases
This hard-line approach comes amid a string of cases involving staff accessing highly sensitive patient information without justification. NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey has written to every trust demanding they implement the new approach immediately to protect patients from further breaches.
Suspicious activity will be identified through routine monitoring and audits of NHS systems, which create records of who has accessed patient information and when, allowing organisations to investigate unusual or unauthorised access.
Regulatory action for offending professionals
Trusts have been told to refer cases to the relevant professional regulator when a registered healthcare professional is dismissed for an offence. This means doctors, nurses and other registered professionals caught snooping on patient records could lose their NHS job or even face regulatory action that may prevent them from practising ever again.
Sir Jim Mackey, NHS Chief Executive, 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."
Guidance has also been administered to NHS organisations on preventing, monitoring, investigating and reporting unlawful access, including the use of regular audits and technical controls to identify suspicious activity.
