NHS probe into Snapchat patient confidentiality breach

The Telegraph & Argus has had sight of images of posts purporting to have been made by a student nurse. It has not been confirmed whether or not this is the case.

Snapchat allows users to share a ‘snap’ - a picture or video sent through the app to one or more of their friends.

They are then deleted once they have been viewed by all recipients, unless they are added to the user’s Story, when they then disappear after 24 hours.

In one of the images seen by the T&A, the poster appears to confirm the identity of one of the patients in their care when asked by another user of the social media platform.

In a separate post, the user apparently shares a picture of a patient’s medical notes with the message ‘I don’t get paid enough for this job’. Another post appears to show a selfie with Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI) tagged as the location.

The Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which the BRI comes under, confirmed it had launched an investigation.

Karen Dawber, Chief Nurse at the Trust, said: “We are treating this matter extremely seriously and are working with the University of Bradford to investigate it fully.

“We will take any action necessary in line with the codes of conduct and policies which are part of our staff’s professional and employment requirements.”

She added: “The vast majority of our staff work to the very highest standards and treat patients with dignity and respect at all times.

“We have a social media policy and we will not tolerate any staff criticising or causing embarrassment to the Trust, its patients, other stakeholders or staff.”

The University of Bradford did not wish to add anything further to the comment made by the Trust.

The Royal College of Nursing, the UK’s largest professional body for nursing, has a guide which sets out how social media should be used responsibly.

It says nurses, midwives and nursing associates may put their registration at risk, and students may jeopardise their ability to join its register, if they act in any way that is unprofessional or unlawful on social media, including sharing confidential information inappropriately or posting inappropriate comments about patients.

The guide says: “It is unacceptable for nurses, midwives or nursing associates to discuss matters related to the people in their care outside clinical settings. If you refer to your work or study on social media you need to demonstrate respect and professionalism towards all your patients or service users by respecting their right to privacy and confidentiality.

“This is regardless of whether you believe that there is a risk they could be identified.”

It adds: “Sharing confidential information online can have the potential to be more damaging than sharing it verbally due to the speed at which it can be shared and the size of the potential audience. It is important to remember that although some information may not directly breach a patient’s right to confidentiality when anonymised, people may still be identifiable and this behaviour may be inappropriate.”