Pharmacist Suspended for Inappropriate Access and Use of Colleague’s Medical Records

Date of Decision: May 22, 2025

Registrant's Role: Pharmacist

Allegations:

On 17 February 2022, the registrant accessed Person A’s medical records via the Evolve system without consent or clinical justification.
The registrant then made inappropriate and offensive comments to Person A based on knowledge obtained from those records, causing them distress.

Outcome: Suspended for 3 months

GPhC Standards Breached:

Standard 1 – Provide person-centred care
Standard 5 – Use professional judgement
Standard 6 – Behave professionally
Standard 7 – Respect and maintain a person’s confidentiality and privacy
Standard 9 – Demonstrate leadership

Case Summary

Allegations

The pharmacist, while employed at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, accessed a junior colleague’s (Person A’s) confidential medical records for 17 minutes using the Evolve system without clinical need or consent. The registrant viewed sensitive documents and later used this information to ask inappropriate and personal questions, including querying “What is [PRIVATE]?” which was a detail found only in Person A’s private records. Person A experienced trauma, anxiety, and distress as a result, and sought counselling.

Findings

The Committee found both allegations proven, based on the registrant’s own admissions. The access was deliberate, unjustified, and followed by inappropriate comments. The registrant’s explanation for accessing the records changed multiple times — initially claiming it was accidental, later admitting it was intentional and motivated by curiosity. The Committee found this conduct amounted to serious misconduct and breached multiple GPhC standards.

A key quote from the registrant’s reflective statement captured the seriousness of their lack of integrity:

“This choice to deny rather than admit caused additional harm… and demonstrated a lack of integrity at the very time when integrity mattered most.”

GPhC Determination on Impairment

The Committee determined the pharmacist’s fitness to practise was currently impaired. It cited the ongoing risk to patients due to the registrant’s underdeveloped insight, the lack of verifiable remediation, and the seriousness of the breach. The panel also found that public confidence in the profession would be undermined without a finding of impairment. The registrant had only disclosed the investigation to a new employer after being prompted, and had provided inconsistent accounts of the events.

Sanction

A three-month suspension was imposed. The Committee felt that while the misconduct was serious and demonstrated a breach of fundamental professional standards, it was capable of remediation. The short suspension was deemed sufficient to protect the public and allow time for further insight and learning.

The Committee rejected conditional registration as inadequate and considered that a warning would not mark the seriousness of the breach. Interim suspension was also imposed until the final decision takes effect.

Key Learning Points for Pharmacy Professionals

Access to patient records must only occur with clinical justification and consent—curiosity is not an acceptable reason.
Misusing access privileges and breaching confidentiality can have severe regulatory consequences, even if the incident is isolated.
Professionals must show genuine, documented remediation and insight to avoid long-term fitness to practise issues.
Full honesty and transparency in investigations is crucial. Delayed or inconsistent accounts may be seen as a lack of integrity.
Leadership means respecting boundaries, especially with junior colleagues. Any abuse of power or position undermines trust in the profession.

Original Case Document

The full determination transcript is available to logged in users.