Kiran Rachel Lombardo, registration number 2204543, was this month (September 4) warned by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) after repeatedly accessing her ex-husband’s medical records.
The GPhC’s investigating committee said that pharmacist Lombardo received a “final written warning” from her employer, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, for “inappropriately” accessing the records on “at least five occasions without clinical justification”.
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According to the determination documents, Lombardo also accessed the medical records of her family members on “a number of occasions with only their verbal consent”.
The GPhC said that she “subsequently made admissions to the police” and “received a formal police caution” in May 2024 for “two offences of unlawfully obtaining” her ex-husband’s personal data in July 2022 and October 2023.
The regulator stressed that accessing patients’ medical records and sharing any information “with no clinical need” is in breach of “patient confidentiality laws and privacy” and “undermines public trust and confidence in the profession”.
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It warned her to “pay careful regard to the relevant standards” and to its guidance, adding that “any similar conduct will be likely to result in further regulatory action”.
The committee concluded that a warning was the “appropriate outcome” in Lombardo’s case, which will be available on the GPhC register “for 12 months”.
Read the determination in full here.
No “clinical need”
Meanwhile, a pharmacy technician has also received a warning from the GPhC for accessing the medical records of two patients “who were also colleagues” at the medical practice pharmacy where she worked as an accuracy checking technician (ACT).
Rachel Kathryn Newstead, registration number 5037406, was last month (August 26) warned by the regulator after accessing two colleagues’ medical records and passing the information on to other colleagues working at the pharmacy.
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The GPhC’s investigating committee heard that Newstead had accessed the records and “passed this information on to two different colleagues” without “permission or any clinical need to do so” on “two separate occasions in August 2024”.
According to the determination documents, Newstead has since “admitted accessing the records and apologised”.
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But the regulator said that her conduct also “breaches patient confidentiality and privacy that should be maintained by pharmacy professionals” and “could undermine public trust and confidence in the profession”.
It concluded that a warning was “appropriate” and that it too will be “published on the register and will be available for 12 months”, adding that “similar conduct” would likely lead to “further regulatory action”.
Read the determination in full here.
