NHS staff to be suspended on the spot if suspected of snooping on patient records
NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey has told hospital bosses that staff suspected of snooping on patient records must be suspended immediately and have their NHS system access cut off, declaring "enough is enough".
NHS staff suspected of snooping on patients’ medical records must be suspended immediately and have their NHS system access cut off, NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey has ordered.
In a letter to all hospital bosses sent on Friday, Sir Jim demanded a zero-tolerance approach, warning that suspected offenders can no longer be left in post with access to records while investigations take days or weeks.
“Patient records contain some of the most private information people will ever share,” he wrote. “We have seen too many cases of people abusing that trust, and enough is enough.”
“From now on, we will expect them to be suspended and have their access to NHS systems cut off immediately,” he added. “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 crackdown follows a string of cases in which health workers were caught looking at the records of high-profile victims, including the victims of the 2023 Nottingham triple-murder, the 2024 Southport dance-class attack, and a boy thrown into a zoo crocodile enclosure in June. It will also target staff who log into the records of friends or family members.
HSJ has found that more than 200 NHS staff have been sacked and around 2,000 others sanctioned over the past five years for inappropriately viewing patient records.
Sources
- The Sun — “NHS staff to be suspended immediately for snooping on patient records as scandal deepens” — https://www.thesun.co.uk/health/40493889/nhs-staff-suspended-snooping-patient-records/
- Health Service Journal — “Exclusive: Hundreds sacked for snooping on patient records” (by Zoe Tidman, 7 September 2026) — https://www.hsj.co.uk/workforce/exclusive-hundreds-sacked-for-snooping-on-patient-records/8124194.article
- InView — “NHS probe launched after Oliver McGowan’s records were accessed 653 times after his death” — https://inview.org.uk/news/195815-nhs_probe_launched_after_oliver_mcgowanefs_records_were_accessed_653_times_after_his_death
- Channel 4 News — “Why were teenager’s medical records accessed - years after his death?” — https://channel4news.substack.com/p/why-were-teenagers-medical-records
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