NHS staff who snooped on tiger victim's records should be sacked, says Cooper

NHS staff who look at patients' medical records without a good reason should be sacked, the health secretary, Yvette Cooper, has said, after it emerged that ambulance staff are being investigated for accessing the records of a man killed by a tiger.

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said on Friday it was investigating two staff who had inappropriately accessed information about William Chapman, who was mauled to death at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday 11 October.

"A total disgrace"

Cooper told Sky News: "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."

She said anyone suspected of inappropriately accessing records should be suspended while it is investigated, "and we need a much swifter line on this because these are basic standards". Asked whether people should lose their jobs, she said: "If there are breaches then people actually need to be sacked."

Not the first time

The case follows reports earlier this year that staff had unnecessarily looked at the records of the victims of the Southport attack and of those killed by Valdo Calocane in Nottingham in 2023.

It emerged on Saturday that Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust has now dismissed 15 staff over the Calocane victims' records, and issued 15 final written warnings and two first written warnings. Doctors, nurses and other staff were among those investigated. Calocane killed two 19-year-old students, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old school caretaker, and tried to kill three other people in June 2023.

Your rights

Health records are protected by data protection law and by the NHS's duty of confidentiality. Staff should only look at a patient's record when they need to for that person's care. Accessing records without a valid reason can be a criminal offence under the Data Protection Act, as well as grounds for dismissal and for being struck off by professional regulators.

Patients have the right to ask their GP surgery or hospital trust who has viewed their records, and to complain if they think their records have been accessed inappropriately. Complaints can also be made to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK's data protection regulator.

The tiger attack

Mr Chapman's death at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, near Doncaster, has prompted questions about safety at zoos and wildlife parks, coming after another fatal incident at an English zoo earlier this year. The park reopened later in the week, and an inquest has been opened. His family have criticised online content about his death that has been widely shared.

NHS trusts across the country, including in Birmingham, use electronic systems that log every time a record is opened, which is how inappropriate access is usually detected.