An NHS trust has terminated 11 employees for unlawfully accessing the medical records of the victims of the Nottingham attacks. Valdo Calocane fatally harmed two 19-year-old students, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old caretaker, and also attempted to harm three others in June 2023.
The Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust (NUH) revealed that the dismissed staff were part of an investigation related to allegations of improper access to the victims’ medical documents. Additionally, 14 other staff members received written warnings as part of disciplinary actions but remain employed. The group under scrutiny included doctors, nurses, registered medical professionals, and administrators, with the specific roles of those terminated not disclosed.
Emma Webber, Barnaby Webber’s mother, expressed shock at the news, stating that the scale of misconduct, with 150 staff accessing the records, was alarming. She contested the trust’s claim that 48 staff had legitimate access, deeming the number excessively high. Dr. Manjeet Shehmar, NUH’s medical director, issued apologies to the victims’ families, emphasizing the zero-tolerance stance towards unauthorized access to medical files.
In a separate incident, staff at the University Hospitals of Liverpool Group faced accusations of unauthorized access to the medical records of Southport attack victims. Axel Rudakubana, the perpetrator, was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years for the fatal stabbing of three children and injuring ten others at a dance event. Leanne Lucas, a survivor, voiced dismay over the breach of her privacy and criticized the delayed disclosure of the incident by the trust board.
Legal representatives of the victims condemned the breach, highlighting the severity of the privacy violation and the lack of legitimate reasons for accessing sensitive records. UHLG’s chief executive, James Sumner, issued a formal apology to the affected patients, acknowledging the distress caused by the breach and assuring transparency in addressing the situation with appropriate disciplinary measures and regulatory notifications.