#medical records access

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Scotland Yard could be called in to investigate an alleged breach of the Princess of Wales’s private medical data.

The world-renowned London Clinic in Marylebone where the Princess of Wales underwent abdominal surgery in January, launched an investigation amid allegations staff attempted to access her private medical records.

After The Mirror’s world exclusive was picked up around the world this week, sources have said tonight that “up to three people” could be involved in the alleged accessing of Catherine’s medical records.

In a further bombshell, it can be revealed that the alleged breach took place after the future queen was discharged from hospital on January 29, as social media exploded with outlandish and hurtful conspiracy theories relating to her surgery.

Sources said the criminal investigation, described as “unprecedented” and now being run by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), could run alongside an additional probe by the Metropolitan Police.

Accessing someone’s medical records without cause or consent can be a criminal offence.

If the ICO investigates and finds evidence that medical records were accessed illegally, it can take action, including prosecuting and fining the person responsible in court.

The development came amid a new statement from the CEO of the The London Clinic, who said:

“There is no place at our hospital for those who intentionally breach the trust of any of our patients or colleagues.”

A source said:

“This is such a unique case that a police investigation could run alongside one by the Information Commissioner's Office.

The IOC will deal with anything as a criminal matter, which could end up in a Magistrate’s Court, but if there were further claims of wrongdoing such as a conspiracy to distribute illegally accessed information, then that could be a matter for the police.”

Scotland Yard has also been urged to launch an immediate investigation, alongside the IOC probe, over fears of a potential royal blackmail plot.

Dai Davies, the former chief superintendent and head of the royal protection unit, said:

“Anyone accused of this most serious breach of trust should be interviewed under caution at the earliest opportunity.

The implications for the royal family are far and wide, and there must be a full probe by Scotland Yard to determine if any further crimes have been committed.”

The Met Police said it had not yet received a referral, but Health Minister Maria Caulfield said today that she understood “police have been asked to look at it.”

Speaking to Sky News, she said it was "pretty serious stuff to be accessing notes that you don't have permission to."

She added:

"I say this as someone who's still on the nursing register, that the rules are very, very clear for all patients.

That unless you're looking after that patient, or they've given you their consent, you should not be looking at patients' notes.

So there are rules in place and the Information Commissioner can levy fines, that can be prosecutions, your regulator.

So as a nurse, my regulator would be the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), can take enforcement action….and can strike you off the register if the breach is serious enough.

So there are particularly hefty implications if you are looking at notes for medical records that you should not be looking at."

Asked if the police should look into the matter, she said: "My understanding is that police have been asked to look at it - whether they take action is a matter for them.”

Fears that the King’s private medical information had also been compromised were dismissed tonight, after Charles spent three nights at the hospital during the same period as the Princess of Wales after undergoing an operation for an enlarged prostate.

Sources confirmed bosses at the hospital had informed Buckingham Palace that the alleged breach being probed did not involve the monarch.

Charles and Catherine were discharged separately just hours apart on January 29.

The King was subsequently diagnosed with “a form of cancer,” announced by Buckingham Palace on February 5.

Senior bosses at the hospital notified the IOC within 72 hours of the alleged breach of Kate’s records, in accordance with the watchdog’s guidelines.

Despite global speculation over the nature of the princess’s surgery, which has sparked wild conspiracy theories across social media and international news outlets, Kensington Palace has gone to great lengths to protect her privacy.

The palace said when Catherine was admitted that she would spend two weeks in hospital and not return to royal duties until after Easter as she continued her recovery at home.

Sources suggested the princess may decide to join the royal family on a scheduled walk to church on Easter Sunday, but no decision had yet been taken.

As the crisis intensified today following The Mirror’s revelations, Al Russell, the CEO at The London Clinic, added:

“Everyone at The London Clinic is acutely aware of our individual, professional, ethical and legal duties with regards to patient confidentiality.

We take enormous pride in the outstanding care and discretion we aim to deliver for all our patients that put their trust in us every day.

We have systems in place to monitor management of patient information and, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken.”

The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates doctors, also said patients must have confidence that their personal information is protected "at all times."

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said:

“Clearly there are strict rules on patient data that must be followed. I think we all want to get behind the Princess of Wales and Prince of Wales and we wish her the speediest of recoveries.”

#Princess of Wales #Catherine Princess of Wales #Catherine Middleton #Kate Middleton #Prince William #Prince of Wales #King Charles III #British Royal Family #Scotland Yard #Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) #Metropolitan Police #medical records #breach of medical records #royal blackmail plot #Health Minister Maria Caulfield #Al Russell #General Medical Council (GMC) #medical records access #Met Police #Buckingham Palace #Kensington Palace #The London Clinic #saint of the day #medical data breach

[syrren]

“The artist becomes the canvas!” - TMAGP 002: Making Adjustments

#tma #the magnus protocol #tmagp #the magnus archives #fanart #the magnus protocol spoilers #tw: body horror #kinda??? #this is the most vague fanart i could possibly post im so sorry #i swear i've also started drawing the actual. yaknow. characters? #but for personal reasons episode two hit so close to home for a second I thought Alex j newall had acquired access to my medical records #so I had to get this out of my system LOL #myart

[maiios]

What do the iterators do in their freetime? do they have any hobbies, like drawing or singing? -star anon!!

part (1/2) - suns & moon

yes! they have multiple hobbies they enjoy to pass the time :]

#THANK YOU FOR THE ASK #father suns <3 #suns literally loves their cat so much #they wishes cars were real #ofc suns loves making matching ANYTHING with their cat child #and of course suns knits/sews stuff for their friends #nsh got suns' first ugly ass quilt #he treasures how much effort suns put into the idea od why they chose every color #(it was the nerdiest reasons ever) #aka: i chose this umber brown bc it theoretically should compliment this lapis blue #<- an absolutely horrendous color combination #ok moving on to moon #moon loves LOVES going back to her submerged superstructure bc a lot of sea creatures reside there from shoreline being dried up #sometimes if shes in the area she will visit the drainage system but not find TOO much there to record #she also loves collecting mushrooms and trading info about flora with siggy #since she no longer has access to her medical facility shes trying to find ways to treat creatures that are sick #aka hunter but shhh #SHES SO SWEET WAAH #rain world #looks to the moon #seven red suns #rw dried au #dried asks

[luthwhore]

why is it so easy for people in smallville to get a hold of each other’s medical records. why are we supposed to think it’s shady when lex does it but fine when chloe does it. has no one in this town heard of hippa.

#smallville #don’t mind me i rewatched shattered/asylum last night #and i’m just thinking about the number of times we’re casually told chloe has been able to access lex’s medical records #girl how are you getting those you are SEVENTEEN

[sga-owns-my-soul]

as someone who has been misdiagnosed at best and fully ignored and not believed at worst about my health issues, it's really frustrating when people tell me i don't really have something unless a doctor has diagnosed me. doctors don't believe i have any issues to begin with, why are they supposed to be trusted over me?? like i get they have degrees but idiots get degrees literally all the time. idk it's just really frustrating when i tell people i have food sensitives and they don't believe me unless i can procure an allergy test. i tell people i have chronic pain and unless a doctor told me that, it doesn't count. i'm not allowed to identify as autistic until a doctor tells me i can. like i get looking something up once isn't the same as a medical degree but idk can we maybe just. stop pretending doctors are the only ones capable of telling what's wrong with someone? can we maybe trust that sometimes people do actually know what's going on with their body and their health?

#and there's also the whole thing about like #insane amount of ableism in health care #i can keep a full time job so clearly i don't have any health issues #my anxiety isn't debilitating bc i can deal with it most days (ignoring the days i can't breathe and i get severe chest pain) #my back pain doesn't prevent me from moving so it's not real (ignoring the times it does stop me from moving bc it's so bad) #i can still sometimes eat food and i'm not Eating Wrong so i don't actually have digestive issues #like i'm just. i'm so tired #i don't even bother going to doctors anymore #bc it just gives me anxiety and stress and they never help #i've seen so many and they all just brush me off #i just. i'm so sick of this #can we stop needing access to a whole history of medical records to believe people have health issues #can we just. not be assholes #please #im so tired #chronic illness #not stargate

[thethingything]

so picking up our library card requires us to show them our ID, which is fine, except we don't actually have any. we can't get a driver's license and getting a passport has a bunch of awkward requirements we haven't found a way to meet, and a lot of other forms of ID require you to have one of those in order to get them, so I have no idea what to do

#personal #thoughts #🍬 post #this is like when we wanted access to our medical records and we were like ''sorry I don't have any ID'' #and they were like ''what about a passport or driver's license?'' and we were like ''I just said I don't have any ID including those'' #and they couldn't grasp that we didn't have either of those things

[rabbitindisguise]

today I learned (from reading my SSI award letter no less) that I clinically am out here seeing without comprehending. My visual processing is so absolutely garbage it made it to the front page of "why lav is disabled." No wonder I can't play baseball, I have can't fucking read disease I guess even though I'm literate. Why did no one tell me this?? I even read my reports kdjfhgkfdjgh god damn psychiatric reporting laws

literally this gif

it's why I don't rely on my eyes at all but hot damn

#personal #disability #psychiatric reporting laws mean that people aren't usually allowed to fully access their medical records wrt to mental health care #this funny discovery is the one bright spot of having to do all this Fucking Paperwork #my games have been helping a lot though #especially after learning that my income might be the same and my backpay might be smaller than expected #there's some complicated math and it still takes care of all my basic needs probably (furniture/clothes/etc) #but what a bummer

[bread-tab]

I'm going through some old downloaded medical records (trying to get my shit organized) and it's a little harrowing because my previous therapist's "progress notes" are in there, and reading them a year after the fact has not dissuaded me of the notion that she Did Not Like Me™. So that's ...uncomfy. IDK, I'm reading them, but at the same time, I'm trying to avoid dwelling on the "what went wrongs" today. (Somewhat failing.)

Anyway, the saving grace for my good humor this evening is that the record system apparently did not account for transgender patients very well and so I get to see gems of improvisation such as this:

#medical cw #medical abuse cw #bad therapy #transphobia cw #lets keep it on the safe side with this one #trauma all over the place and i haven't processed it well enough to even know how to tag it #and yeah idk why i have access to detailed progress notes #i don't think it's the full record but it's a lot

[buried-in-stardust]

.

#blu speaks #i went to apply for accessibility services at my uni #they gave me a form for my doctor to fill about regarding what my disability is and what it affects etc #seems simple enough right #fuck no #i went to contact my family doctor and found out she retired #i went back to the accessibility office and they said i can request my medical records #and then they can look over them themselves in lieu of the form #issue is. my doctor ran her own clinic. who do i contact for my records #i went to the health centre to ask bc they probably know right? #they told me to call the physicians board #so i did. #the physicians board looked up my doctor and told me my records are with a non-profit and to contact them #i called them and they told me to request my records through the website #i went to the website and discovered it costs up to $85 + shipping and taxes to get my records #fucking hell #<- i am in canada #not the u.s.

[zokimaga]

What if i just spend all my saved up money on diagnosis and tests and hrt,,,, hrhrhgrgh

#i would be ostracized in this fucking town </3 #but i would have a stubble and gender cream #also scary to get diagnosed because um #FUN FACT police can access your medical records here n shit :) #huge downside is that testogel is often out of stock in the country #and theres no ability to change my gendermarker #or get a male name #</3 #i just want to exit this place #dimky murmur #made BANK this month i totally could #also why is it $30 to get my name changet at all i rly wanna take off my second name

[codashbee]

Bruh I NEDD my aunt to chill tf out with her "medical knowledge".

#like bro you are NOT my dr #nor do u have access to my medical records #“you're jot immunocompromised!” bro yes tf i am #like it's legit in my medical records and I've TOLD you why just stop beijg stupid

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Hospital staff embroiled in a privacy probe involving the Princess of Wales will likely be facing disciplinary action, an expert has warned.

The Mirror revealed an investigation is underway at the world-renowned The London Clinic into claims Catherine's confidentiality was breached while she was a patient in January.

At least one member of staff was said to have been caught trying to access the 42-year-old's medical notes.

The future Queen had abdominal surgery at the London hospital in January and stayed for a fortnight, as she recovered before returning home to Windsor.

The allegations are the latest blow to hit Catherine, whose absence from public life over the past two months has led to wild conspiracy theories on social media about her whereabouts and health.

Now, an employment expert has outlined the likely next steps for accused staff, while a data protection expert has suggested Catherine could well claim compensation.

Employment partner Tracey Guest at law firm Slater Heelis told the Mirror:

"Any hospital employee who has accessed Catherine's private medical records, without any proper work reason to do so, is at risk of being dismissed due to gross misconduct.

Previous cases for dismissal relating to confidential information have held that it is important for employers to have policies in place, which make it abundantly clear to employees that unauthorised interference with computers/accessing confidential information unnecessarily will carry severe penalties.

No doubt all hospital employees will have been given contracts of employment where confidential information is a key term.

And it is likely that the hospital will have policies in place to make it clear that unlawfully accessing patient confidential information is likely to amount to gross misconduct."

The next steps to follow will depend on the alleged employee's years of service at the clinic. Tracey continued:

"If an employee has two or more years' service, the hospital will need to follow a fair procedure prior to dismissing an employee, otherwise they will be at risk of a claim for unfair dismissal.

This means that the hospital should require the employee to attend an investigation meeting, where the allegations are put to the employee and the employee is given a chance to respond and put forward any explanation/deny the allegations.

If the Investigating Officer decides that there is a case to answer, the employee must then be required to attend a disciplinary meeting.

The employee should be advised in advance in writing of the disciplinary allegations against them and warned that a possible outcome may be dismissal.

The employee should also be given the right to be accompanied to the disciplinary meeting by a fellow employee or trade union representative of their choice.

If an employee is dismissed, they should be given the right to appeal the decision."

It is likely that accessing medical records without any proper work reason is also a breach of data protection, and these allegations would also be discussed with the employee concerned, Tracey explained.

Meanwhile, the employees' alleged actions causing reputational damage to the hospital will also be assessed.

"Given the publicity surrounding this matter, this allegation would be genuine and could provide a further reason to warrant dismissal for gross misconduct (subject to the findings of any appropriate investigation and disciplinary)," Tracey added, before suggesting:

"Any employee involved in accessing medical records without a proper reason to do so may be best advised to resign, in order to avoid having a dismissal on their records."

The clinic's boss said that all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken when looking at alleged data breaches.

Al Russell, said in a statement:

"Everyone at the London Clinic is acutely aware of our individual, professional, ethical and legal duties with regards to patient confidentiality.

We take enormous pride in the outstanding care and discretion we aim to deliver for all our patients that put their trust in us every day.

We have systems in place to monitor management of patient information and, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken.

There is no place at our hospital for those who intentionally breach the trust of any of our patients or colleagues."

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.

Looking at somebody's private medical records without permission can result in prosecution from the Information Commissioner's Office in the UK.

A spokesperson for the data watchdog said:

"We can confirm that we have received a breach report and are assessing the information provided."

Jon Baines, Senior Data Protection Specialist at Mishcon de Reya, outlined what this would mean and suggested that Catherine could claim for compensation.

"Any investigation by the ICO is likely to consider whether a criminal offence might have been committed by an individual or individuals," he began.

"Section 170 of the Data Protection Act 2018 says that a person commits an offence if they obtain or disclose personal data 'without the consent of the controller.'

Here, the controller will be the clinic itself.

"Although there are defences available to someone charged with the offence — such as that they reasonably believed they had the right to 'obtain' the personal data, or on grounds of public interest — such defences are unlikely to apply where someone knowingly accesses patient notes for no valid or justifiable reason.

Mr Baines explained that an offence is only punishable by a fine.

In England and Wales, although the maximum fine is unlimited, there is no possibility of any custodial sentence.

"A further area of potential investigation for the ICO will be whether the clinic itself complied with its obligations under the UK GDPR to have 'appropriate technical or organisational measures' in place to keep personal data secure.," the data expert continued.

"Serious failures to comply with that obligation could lead to civil monetary penalties from the ICO, to a maximum of £17.5m although, in reality, given that such civil fines must be proportionate, it is rare that such large sums are even considered by the ICO.

Individuals, such as - in this case - The Princess of Wales, can also bring claims for compensation under the UK GDPR, and for 'misuse of private information', where their data protection and privacy rights have been infringed."

Mr Baines added:

"Whatever the outcome from the ICO, anyone working in an environment where they might have access to personal data, particularly of a sensitive nature, should be aware that there are potential criminal law implications arising from unauthorised access.

Any organisation holding such information should ensure it has appropriate measures in place to prevent, or at least reduce the risk, of such access."

Earlier today, a health minister said police have "been asked to look at" whether staff at The London Clinic attempted to access the Princess of Wales' private medical records.

MP Maria Caulfield, who is a nurse serving as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Mental Health and Women's Health Strategy, said there could be “hefty implications” if it turns out anyone accessed the notes without permission, including prosecution or fines.

When questioned whether it should be dealt with as a police matter, Ms Caulfield told LBC:

“Whether they take action is a matter for them. But the Information Commissioner can also take prosecutions, can also issue fines, the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), other health regulators can strike you off the register if the breach is serious enough.

So there are particularly hefty implications if you are looking at notes for medical records that you should not be looking at."

Reassuring listeners, she also told Times Radio:

"For any patient, you want to reassure your listeners that there are strict rules in place around information governance about being able to look at notes even within the trust or a community setting.

You can't just randomly look at any patient's notes. It's taken extremely seriously, both by the information commissioner but also your regulator.

So the NMC (Nursing and Midwifery Council), if as a nurse, you are accessing notes that you haven't got permission to access, they would take enforcement action against that. So it's extremely serious.

And I want to reassure patients that their notes have those strict rules apply to them as they do for the Princess of Wales."

Kensington Palace refused to confirm what Catherine was being treated for at the time of the announcement she had surgery but later confirmed the condition was non-cancerous.

An official statement read:

"Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales was admitted to The London Clinic yesterday for planned abdominal surgery.

The surgery was successful and it is expected that she will remain in hospital for ten to fourteen days, before returning home to continue her recovery."

The Palace also raised that they wanted to keep her health concerns private, adding:

"Based on the current medical advice, she is unlikely to return to public duties until after Easter. The Princess of Wales appreciates the interest this statement will generate.

She hopes that the public will understand her desire to maintain as much normality for her children as possible; and her wish that her personal medical information remains private.

Kensington Palace will, therefore, only provide updates on Her Royal Highness' progress when there is significant new information to share.

The Princess of Wales wishes to apologise to all those concerned for the fact that she has to postpone her upcoming engagements.

She looks forward to reinstating as many as possible, as soon as possible."

As speculation has swirled regarding the Princess' whereabouts, Catherine was most recently seen stepping out in public with Prince William for the first time at the weekend.

The couple, dressed in sportswear, were spotted walking with shopping bags at a farm shop close to their home on the Windsor estate.

#Princess of Wales #Catherine Princess of Wales #Catherine Middleton #Kate Middleton #British Royal Family #The London Clinic #NHS #Information Commissioner's Office #Data Protection Act 2018 #MP Maria Caulfield #Kensington Palace #medical records access #medical data breach #abdominal surgery #Nursing and Midwifery Council

[fruitless-vain]

(The practitioner did consent to being recorded! He also said if I pass out I have to submit it to fail army or something 😂 )

I went for 12 minutes…. Which is very very sad when you remember that I used to be extremely athletic. My HR peaked at 193, blood pressure was the highest it’s ever been but with the anxiety of doing this alone that was expected, no weird drops or anything as a result.

Setting up was kinda funny to me cause he was like “let me know if you feel dizzy” and I had to emphasize “do you want to know when I’m dizzy or do you want to know when I’m gonna pass out cause those are two different things”. He wanted the latter.

Within the first 3 minutes my hands went completely white and purple. And like I’m a pale person, but they might as well have been see through.

Let’s just pray that something notable showed up on the readings

#medical #health #don’t at me about my screen recording #I wanted to detail what went wrong where #and didn’t want to download a video editor to do it #so Instagram was accessible for me

[madigoround]

Something happened at work and I don’t even have the words to ramble about how upset I am about it I just feel so defeated and I don’t know what I can even do or why someone in a position of power would choose to do this to someone like as human beings

#I’ll talk about it later but broad strokes my friend who has similar mental health issues as me has been fighting to get disability #accommodations at work that like aren’t even really an ask they’re things that other people are allowed to do without accommodations #the only thing that not everyone is allowed to do is have two telework days a week most everybody gets one and they’re requiring her to take #an all day state psych eval and release all her medical and mental health records to the company and kind of also therefore all other #employment through the state of Virginia because it’s a state job? and she has been diagnosed and getting medical treatment for years her #therapists have been fighting to get her these accommodations and talking with hr and hr and my boss (also her boss) have been saying if she #doesn’t do the evaluation and release all her medical records she’ll be fired and it’s discrimination and she’s planning on quitting before #the eval that they sprung on her for Friday but like this is a job where we defend people with mental health issues and you’re just going to #discriminate against mental health issues within your company? #if they made me do that I would have to quit I’m not going to let Virginia state jobs have access to my mental health records but also it’s #so shitty and it’s coming from HR and our boss so it’s not like she can go to HR about it f #other people in the office knew before me and have done nothing but say oh that sucks #maybe I did have enough words to ramble about it actually my bad #I’m going to cry about it I feel like but it’s not going to help anything and I just want to fix it #this isn’t how you should treat people #it’s disgusting and discriminatory

[tittyinfinity]

Welp my 4th therapist in 8 months just quit

#its because shes retiring tho #i only go thru this company bc they can communicate directly with my doctor #and have access to all my medical records #i asked if the company wasnt treating its employees right and she said the company was ok she just needed a break #she said she was really proud of me and that i came a long way in the couple of months we talked #she said i was her favorite client😭 #and that she related to me a lot with her adhd and that i even gave her tips to help with hers #im sad to see her go

[drabbleswithdragons]

things that i've been told in the process of accommodations ***before my first appointment*** (all the things in quotations are direct quotes)

you need to provide documentation to have an interpreter at the accommodations meeting.

(a couple days later) lol jk talked to my boss and that's ILLEGAL hahaha. sorry not sorry for giving you a breakdown (both of these were also from my boss bc i Work in the disability office).

(different coordinator who isn't also my boss, as i'm sobbing at work and said "why do these things always have to be a fight?") "it's not a fight, this is just the process everyone goes through."

me, to my boss: the process of getting accommodations is pretty invasive. my boss: "it's not invasive!" you just need to "provide enough of a narrative" so we understand how everything affects you. "we need to be able to determine what you need."

me, internally screaming that i am literally telling you what i need and my doctor + therapist are backing me up! just not with enough invasive detail for you to be satisfied.

my boss' boss, who handles deaf students, when i asked specifically what documentation i need: well, every case is different, and actually i recommend not bringing any documentation to the first meeting.

the way the accommodations system works is either you bring in enough documentation for your first appointment and get accommodations approved then, or you have to wait weeks to a month or more to get a second appointment when you do have documentation to have that reviewed and see if it's enough. if it's not, rinse and repeat.

#my therapist texted me when i explained the situation and she literally said 'this is bullshit and you know it' #my mother the lawyer has been researching what to do if you're discriminated against #im really extraordinarily lucky to have the support i do i know i am. #i need a new job... #'here have the records of some of the most traumatic experiences of my life and also intimate details of my medical and mental health #history...is that enough to convince you you should help me or do i need to get on my knees and beg for equal access to education'