Warning NHS staff who inappropriately accessed tiger attack victim William Chapman's records 'must be sacked'

Warning NHS staff who inappropriately accessed tiger attack victim William Chapman's records 'must be sacked' Yvette Cooper has furiously railed against NHS staff who accessed patient records of high-profile patients, saying they should be investigated and fired in the event of a breach NHS staff who inappropriately accessed the medical records of tiger attack victim William Chapman must face the sack, the Health Secretary has warned. Mr Chapman, 23, died last weekend at Yorkshire Wildlife Park in Branton and Auckley, South Yorkshire, after he climbed into the enclosure of and was maulted to death by Altai, the 200kg Siberian tiger. In the aftermath of the attack, it is believed two employees at Yorkshire Ambulance Service accessed or attempted to access his records without a legitimate reason. The unauthorised access has enraged Yvette Cooper, who condemned it as a "total disgrace", before calling for the jobs of anyone who commits a breach. Speaking on Sky News's Sunday Morning programme, the Health secretary said people "actually need to be sacked" in the event of a record breach. She added that no member of NHS staff should be accessing records “for something to do with voyeurism, or what is in the news or any of that kind of reason”. She added: “It is not only is it a total disgrace, but I’ve spoken to the NHS chief executive about this. We agree that if there are cases here of people inappropriately accessing medical records, then they should be suspended while the investigation takes place.” The unauthorised access attempts made on Mr Chapman's records are the latest of several made this year on high-profile cases. In June, Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) said it had launched an investigation after 40 staff members accessed medical details belonging to a child who was seriously injured in a crocodile pit. The boy, three, was attacked by at least one of the animals while visiting Johnsons of Old Hurst near Huntingdon, Cambridge, on June 18. He was taken to Addenbrooke's Hospital and stabilised before later returning home in August, and restrictions were placed on his records during his stay there to prevent unauthorised access. Launching the investigation into the number of access attempts, CUH said in a statement that anyone caught having done so would face disciplinary action. A spokesperson said: "We have strict policies in place to safeguard patient data and we take any breach extremely seriously. We know the vast majority of our 13,000 staff understand the fundamental importance of maintaining patient confidentiality and uphold the highest professional standards. "Where any member of staff is found to have accessed patient records without legitimate clinical or operational reasons we take robust disciplinary action, including dismissal. As part of our response to any breach, we notify both the ICO and apologise to patients and their families affected." CUH said it had referred itself to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and was exploring whether there were legitimate reasons for the access. More recently, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said this weekend that it had dismissed 15 staff, issued a further 15 written warnings, and two first warnings after records of victims of Valdo Calocane's rampage in Nottingham were accessed. Calocane, a schizophrenic man, stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and granddad Ian Coates, 65, to death in Newcastle in June 2023. The trust took action after discovering the access following an investigation into doctors, nurses and other registered healthcare professionals. Dr Manjeet Shehmar, the medical director at NUH, said: “There is simply no excuse for accessing the records of a patient without a legitimate reason, and I hope this sends a really clear message – we will investigate and we will take action." “To lose a loved one in the way that the families of Ian, Grace and Barnaby have is heartbreaking enough. I am so sorry that they have had this further compounded by the actions of these staff members. “We will continue to investigate inappropriate access to these records and take action as and where necessary. Alongside this, we are doing all we can to educate our staff on appropriate access and how to keep the records of our patients safe. We are also introducing a new system which acts to detect possible data breaches.”