Bogus nurse stole medical details from Fife hospital

A health board has been reprimanded after a woman pretending to be a nurse was able to assist with the care of a patient and access sensitive medical records.

The individual also managed to steal the medical details of 14 patients from the St Andrews Community Hospital in Fife during the incident in February.

The suspect hasn't been identified and the documents remain missing.

NHS Fife said it had apologised to those involved.

A spokesperson for the health board said: "The individual was only on a ward for a short period of time and left shortly after being challenged by a member of the nursing team.

"While the person was never alone with any patient, they did have access to a handover document containing information relating to patients on the ward."

NHS Fife and Fife Health and Social Care Partnership, who operate the facility, immediately reported the incident to Police Scotland.

They also referred the incident to the Information Commissioner's Office.

The patients involved and their families were informed of the security breach.

The spokesperson added: "We acknowledge the findings of the Information Commissioner's Office, and have apologised to those involved."

The health board added additional measures had been put in place to ensure it doesn't happen again.

St Andrews Community Hospital has two inpatient wards, both providing rehabilitation for older people and those with complex discharge needs.

The reprimand, issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), states that the person - who identified themselves as an agency nurse - was handed the treatment plans of the patients due to "a lack of identification checks and an unclear process".

The details in question were SBAR (situation, background, assessment, recommendation) documents which included personal identifiers and special health category data of the patients involved.

The report also notes that CCTV on the ward had been accidentally turned off at the time, meaning NHS Fife and Police Scotland have been unable identify the person involved.

The ICO admits there is a "potential on-going risk" to the patients and the intentions of the culprit are not known.

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Around 3.40pm on Wednesday, 1 February, 2023, we received a report of a woman posing as a member of staff at St Andrews Community Hospital, St Andrews.

"Inquiries have been carried out and nobody has been arrested."