Victoria Kym Thomas, registration number 5026916, was issued a warning by the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) after it found she had accessed the medical records of an ex-partner.
At a hearing on March 11, the GPhC’s investigating committee heard that Thomas accessed a patient’s medical records on August 3, 2020 “without clinical justification or permission”.
The hearing document revealed that the records were those of “a person with whom she had been in a relationship”.
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It added that Thomas went on to “harass” her ex-partner between September 15 and 24, 2020 “through repeated, unwanted contact”.
She then received a police caution for the harassment on March 11, 2021, it said.
The GPhC warned that she had breached several of its standards - namely those relating to professional judgement, behaving in a professional manner, maintaining patient confidentiality and privacy, and demonstrating leadership..
“Undermines public trust”
The committee said that “unauthorised access of patient records” or accessing them “for personal reasons” is a breach of “patient confidentiality and privacy”.
These standards “should be maintained by pharmacy professionals”, it noted, adding that breaching them can “undermine public trust and confidence in the profession”.
“You should pay careful regard to the relevant standards and to the guidance provided by the council in respect of confidentiality and information governance, and also ensure compliance with the NHS data protection principles,” the regulator said.
Thomas was also warned that her behaviour, which “resulted in a police caution for harassment”, fell “far below that of what is expected from pharmacy professionals”.
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The committee said her actions had “the likelihood of impacting public confidence in the profession”.
And it added that “any repetition of this or similar conduct will likely result in further regulatory intervention”.
The warning will be published on the register for 12 months, it concluded..
Read the determination in full here.
