Pregnant nurse says Nottingham doctor invaded her privacy

Tanya Sunrise said she and her ex-boyfriend broke up in November after 11 months of dating

A pregnant nurse has accused a health trust of sweeping an information breach under the carpet, after her doctor ex-boyfriend accessed her medical records.

Tanya Sunrise, 38, said she felt her privacy had been violated by the consultant at Nottingham University Hospitals (NUH) NHS Trust.

Miss Sunrise has now moved her treatment to a different hospital.

The trust said it had investigated the breach in privacy and reported it to the information commissioner.

Miss Sunrise, from Ilkeston, Derbyshire, said she and Ghassan Almeer broke up in November on the day she told him about the pregnancy.

She said she had been dating the 43-year-old consultant for 11 months.

Miss Sunrise, a nurse working in the private sector, has moved her medical care to a different hospital

In March she found out Dr Almeer had been accessing her private medical records.

She received a letter from the hospital to say he had viewed her information on two occasions, including images relating to her ultrasound and test results.

Miss Sunrise, a nurse working in the private sector, said she spoke to the hospital and was assured there would be an investigation.

She said her ex-boyfriend was suspended from work for a week and instructed to undertake online training before being allowed to return to work.

"He seems to have completely got away with doing such an awful thing, abusing his position and violating my privacy by accessing my records.

"NUH said they could not isolate my records from everyone else's or protect them from being accessed again.

"The hospital was not supportive or sympathetic to the situation I was in," she said.

The trust, which runs the Queen's Medical Centre, said it had investigated a breach in privacy

Miss Sunrise, who is now 29 weeks' pregnant, has moved her medical care to a different hospital.

"As a single mum-to-be it would have been nice to be able to have my baby in a familiar place with close friends and support nearby," she said.

"I feel like NUH is trying to cover up this massive breach in information governance and sweep it under the carpet because he is a consultant.

"It has all been a very traumatic experience for me."

A spokesperson for the trust said: "Accessing a patient's medical records without clinical justification is completely unacceptable, and is a violation of basic privacy rights as well as patient confidentiality.

"We investigated this incident as soon as we were made aware, took action in line with our policies, and reported the breach to the information commissioner.

"We recognise how upsetting this is and have apologised unreservedly to Ms Sunrise that this has happened."

A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner's Office said: "Nottingham University Hospitals has made us aware of an incident and we are assessing the information provided."

Dr Almeer has been contacted for a comment.