NHS staff who wrongly accessed tiger victim’s records should be sacked, says Yvette Cooper

NHS staff who inappropriately accessed the medical records of a man mauled to death by a tiger should be sacked, Yvette Cooper said.

The health secretary said the incident – which followed reports earlier this year that staff had unnecessarily viewed details about the Southport attack victims and those murdered by Valdo Calocane in Nottingham in 2023 – was a “total disgrace”.

On Friday, Yorkshire ambulance service said it was investigating two staff who had inappropriately accessed information about William Chapman, who was mauled to death by a tiger at Yorkshire Wildlife Park last Saturday.

Asked about these on Sky News on Sunday, Cooper said: “I take this extremely seriously. I know there’s a specific investigation going into that case, but we just need to be absolutely clear.

“No member of NHS staff should be accessing records that they do not need to see for medical care, and reasons simply for something to do with voyeurism, or what is in the news, or any of that kind of reason.

“Not only is it a total disgrace, but I’ve spoken to the NHS chief executive about this. We agree that if there are cases here of people inappropriately accessing medical records, then they should be suspended while the investigation takes place and we need a much swifter line on this because these are basic standards, and everybody across the NHS knows that these are the basic standards.”

Asked if people should be sacked, she added: “If there are breaches then people actually need to be sacked.”

A total of 15 NHS staff have now been sacked after accessing medical records belonging to the victims of a 2023 Nottingham attack, it emerged on Saturday. Calocane killed two 19-year-old students, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old caretaker, and attempted to kill three other people in the city in June 2023.

During its investigation, Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust has so far dismissed 15 staff, issued 15 final written warnings and two first written warnings.

Doctors, nurses, registered healthcare professionals and other staff have been included in the investigation. The victims’ families were told about the latest update this week.

In May, the NHS trust that runs Aintree hospital in Liverpool admitted that nearly 50 staff members had looked inappropriately at the medical records of victims of the Southport knife attack.

Nicola Ryan-Donnelly from Fletcher’s Solicitors, which represents many of the injured children, condemned the “deeply disturbing abuse of power and a shocking breach of privacy”.