Essex nurse suspended for accessing ex-partner's data
- Published
The incident happened in July 2019
A nurse has been suspended for six months for accessing confidential benefit records to find out information on her ex-partner.
Claire Thirkell, from Essex, worked at the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments at the time, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said.
It found she had accessed the records four times in July 2019 without any clinical justification or permission.
The NMC report, external said she admitted accessing the records.
It said IT records showed Miss Thirkell used the Medical Services Referral System four times on 2 July 2019 to access the benefit data, including postcode information, of her former partner.
She admitted to accessing the records at a disciplinary hearing in October that year, the report said.
Dismissed
A spokesperson for the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments said as soon as a complaint was made, a full investigation was carried out and Miss Thirkell was reported to the NMC.
It said she was subsequently dismissed from the service, where she worked as a nurse and functional assessor, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.
Miss Thirkell was informed of the service's decision to dismiss her at an outcome hearing on 7 November 2019.
NMC held a virtual meeting on 7 January 2022 to consider Miss Thirkell's fitness to practise, which she did not attend.
She was given a suspension order of six months and an interim suspension order of 18 months.
Miss Thirkell had not worked as a nurse since the incident, the report said.
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