A Senior Nurse Faces Consequences for Breaching Privacy in a Retirement Village

A senior nurse has been found guilty by the Health Practitioner’s Disciplinary Tribunal of illegally accessing the health records of over 180 individuals, including retirees, staff members, and even children and deceased people, at a retirement village where she worked.

The nurse, who has been granted interim name suppression, was employed as the clinical nurse manager at a rest home in 2018 and oversaw its dementia and hospital facility. During the pandemic, she accessed the health records of staff members with verbal permission to check their Covid-19 test results, as rapid antigen tests were not widely available at the time. However, the tribunal found that her actions extended far beyond what was necessary or permitted.

Among the records accessed were those of individuals who had nothing to do with the retirement village, including a 3-month-old infant and people who had died decades ago. Some staff members were unaware that their personal health information, such as breast reconstruction surgery and treatment for alcoholism, had been accessed. Others, like a pharmacist who supplied the rest home with medicines, were shocked to discover that their records had been viewed without their consent.

One pharmacist said the knowledge that her records had been accessed had impacted her professionally and personally. “The only reason I can think she accessed my records is out of pure nosiness,” she told the tribunal. “I have lost trust in [her], and to an extent in the nursing profession.”

The tribunal heard that the nurse had accessed the health files of over 180 people over the age of 65, as well as the records of multiple children and some people who had been dead for decades. She also accessed the records of 45 staff members, though many of these instances were done with verbal permission. The nurse was found to have breached the terms of use of the digital health record system, which was being trialled at the time to streamline patient care and hospital transfers.

Matthew McLelland, a lawyer for the Nursing Council, described the nurse’s actions as “trolling” for health information. “She was well aware that what she was doing was outside the rules and did it regardless,” he said. “All of it was very personal information to which she had no entitlement to access.”

Although the nurse’s initial access to staff members’ Covid-19 test results was done during “desperate times” and with verbal permission, the tribunal found that her actions extended far beyond what was appropriate. The nurse’s behavior was described as a “very serious, continuous breach over a two-year period of people’s health information.”

The retirement village’s chief executive admitted that the nurse had accessed staff members’ Covid-19 test results during the pandemic, but denied that she had been instructed to look up other information. However, the chief executive reported the matter to the District Health Board after complaints from staff members, leading to an investigation by the Nursing Council.

As part of the investigation, an audit was launched into the nurse’s use of the file system, and a spreadsheet was created to track the files that were accessed. Nine staff members at the retirement village contacted the organization and were “very distressed” as the information accessed was personal. While many people were notified their health records had been accessed, the DHB opted not to inform people who were not residents of the retirement village, nor staff, to avoid causing distress. This decision was made after advice from the Privacy Commissioner.

The tribunal will deliver its decision on the penalty for the nurse at a later date. The case highlights the importance of safeguarding personal health information and the serious consequences of breaching privacy rules in healthcare settings.

Jeremy Wilkinson is an Open Justice reporter based in Manawatū, covering courts and justice issues with an interest in tribunals. He has been a journalist for nearly a decade and has worked for NZME since 2022.