Nottingham nurse sacked over Facebook photo

A nurse was dismissed from Nottingham University Hospitals Trust after posting a picture of a patient on Facebook, it has emerged.

The case was one of 29 reported breaches of patient confidentiality at the trust over the past three years.

The figures from July 2008 to July 2011 were obtained under a Freedom of Information Act request from campaign group Big Brother Watch.

The trust said it took any breach of data protection extremely seriously.

A total of eight members of staff were dismissed over the breaches.

'Clear message'

Out of 29 the reported incidents, nine had no case to answer while the other 20 were investigated.

Peter Homa, chief executive of the trust, said: "We fully investigate all claims - and where there is found to be a serious breach of confidentiality, we have dismissed the member of staff involved.

"This is a clear message we give to all our employees.

"Since 2010 we have carried out a major campaign across both our hospitals to actively encourage staff and patients to report all suspected breaches of data protection and patient confidentiality.

"This saw a huge increase in reports at the time, but has since brought about a reduction in the number of breaches in our trust over the last year as we drive home the importance of keeping data secure."

The trust runs Nottingham City Hospital and the Queen's Medical Centre.

The highest number of reported breaches was found at NHS Lothian. Cumbria Teaching PCT had 39 and NHS Fife had 30.

A total of 420 trusts were surveyed but 74 did not respond.