NHS staff accessed Southport victims' records 'inappropriately', hospital trust admits

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. NHS staff accessed Southport victims' records 'inappropriately', hospital trust admits18 minutes ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleJudith Moritz ,Special correspondentandDaniel WittenbergPA MediaThe victims were all injured at a children's dance class in Southport's Hart StreetA hospital trust has admitted that nearly 50 staff members looked inappropriately at the medical records of victims of the Southport knife attack. The data breach happened at Aintree Hospital in Liverpool, where some of the injured were treated, in the days after the July 2024 attack but has only emerged this week. The understands the three patients affected included a 13-year-old girl who had been helping to supervise the Taylor Swift-themed dance class that was targeted in the attack - and adult teacher Leanne Lucas.

The NHS University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHLG), which runs Aintree, said the breach was "inexcusable" and changes had been made - although no-one has been sacked. Lucas was stabbed five times in the attack, which killed three young girls and seriously wounded eight children and another adult. "I am absolutely devastated and horrified that my privacy has been invaded when I was at my most vulnerable," she said.

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"Nothing will take away my gratitude to the staff who saved my life, but 48 people not involved in my care abused their position of trust to access the files of victims who have suffered unspeakable trauma. "Leanne Lucas was critically injured and required multiple surgeries after the attackIt is understood that the breach emerged as part of a standard information access audit carried out by the trust in the days after the attack. Nicola Ryan-Donnelly, from Fletcher's Solicitors which represents the teenage patient, said: "This is a deeply disturbing abuse of power and a shocking breach of privacy into the care of several Southport victims, including a young girl.

"Our client, who is now growing into a young woman, is old enough to properly understand what this means: that staff opened her records, not to aid to her recovery but to pry. "The Chief Executive of UHLG, James Sumner, said the trust was "sincerely sorry for any distress that may have been caused to the patients". He said that staff who were found to have accessed patient records were subject to disciplinary processes ranging from "informal counselling to a final written warning".

None of the staff members were dismissed. Lucas said: "The decision to keep this from me for almost two years is a new low. "I am speaking out as I want this scandal and the attempted cover up by senior management exposed for what it is.

"The patients affected were all treated at Aintree University Hospital in the immediate aftermath of the attackShe told the she only learned about the data breach on Thursday when the hospital's chief nurse spoke to her. Lucas believes that it was only revealed to her because a journalist from the Health Service Journal had contacted the hospital.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.