Any misuse of records is "a serious breach of trust"

Responding to a letter from the Information Commission's Office (ICO) on health staff viewing medical records without a legitimate reason, the chief executive of the NHS Alliance, Sir Ciarán Devane, said:

"NHS staff work hard every day to protect confidential patient information, and any misuse of records is rightly treated as a serious breach of trust.

“As digital technology becomes increasingly central to patient care, strong data governance is essential.

“However, organisations need clear, achievable standards and the capability to meet them. Expectations around access controls, audit trails, monitoring and assurance must be supported by adequate resources, reflect what existing systems can do and be coupled with realistic implementation timescales.

“There is also a risk in placing responsibility on individual leaders without recognising the wider organisational and system challenges many NHS bodies are already managing.

“Maintaining public confidence requires both accountability and investment in the infrastructure, data governance and NHS expertise to prevent and respond to patient data safety."