Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has confirmed that four more employees have been dismissed for inappropriately accessing the medical records of victims of the Nottingham attack, bringing the total number of staff sacked to 15.
The trust said this weekend that the latest dismissals relate to the records of Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates, who were fatally stabbed by Valdo Calocane on June 13, 2023. Calocane, who has schizophrenia, was later sentenced to an indefinite hospital order.
Warnings Issued Alongside Dismissals
In addition to the firings, NUH has issued 15 final written warnings and two first written warnings relating to conduct. The trust's probe covered doctors, nurses, registered healthcare staff and other employees.
Victims' families were informed of the latest update this week. Dr Manjeet Shehmar, medical director at NUH, said he hoped the move would send "a clear message".
Dr Shehmar said: "There is simply no excuse for accessing the records of a patient without a legitimate reason and I hope this sends a really clear message – we will investigate and we will take action.
"To lose a loved one in the way that the families of Ian, Grace and Barnaby have is heartbreaking enough. I am so sorry that they have had this further compounded by the actions of these staff members. We will continue to investigate inappropriate access to these records and take action as and where necessary."
New Measures to Detect Breaches
Dr Shehmar added: "Alongside this, we are doing all we can to educate our staff on appropriate access and how to keep the records of our patients safe. We are also introducing a new system which acts to detect possible data breaches."
In May, the trust said 11 staff members who had illegally accessed victims' records had been sacked. The number has now risen to 15.
Sir Jim Mackey, head of NHS England, announced last month that NHS staff suspected of inappropriately accessing patients' medical records will be immediately suspended with their access to the health service's computer systems cut off. Sir Mackey said there had been "too many cases" of staff "abusing" trust, warning that "snooping" could cost them their careers and leave them with a criminal record.
Other Recent Cases
On Friday, Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it was investigating two staffers it said had inappropriately accessed information about William Chapman, the man who was mauled to death by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on October 11. Mr Chapman, 23, died after he jumped into the enclosure housing 200kg Altai the Siberian tiger, forcing the zoo's closure for several days.
The ambulance service said in a statement that there may have been "two instances involving two members of staff accessing or attempting to access incident/medical information without a legitimate reason".
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 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.
Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said today the incidents of unauthorised access were a "disgrace". She told Sky News: "I take this extremely seriously. I know there's a specific investigation going into that case, but we just need to be absolutely clear.
"No member of NHS staff should be accessing records that they do not need to see for medical care, and reasons simply for something to do with voyeurism, or what is in the news, or any of that kind of reason. Not only is it a total disgrace, but I've spoken to the NHS chief executive about this.
"We agree that if there are cases here of people inappropriately accessing medical records, then they should be suspended while the investigation takes place and we need a much swifter line on this because these are basic standards, and everybody across the NHS knows that these are the basic standards."
