Southport survivor 'violated' by 'morbid curiosity'
BBCA yoga teacher who was seriously injured in the Southport knife attack has said she feels "violated" by the "inexcusable morbid curiosity" of NHS staff who allegedly accessed her medical records inappropriately.
Leanne Lucas was helping to run a Taylor Swift-themed dance class when Bebe King, six, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and nine-year-old Alice Da Silva Aguiar were fatally attacked in the Merseyside town on 29 July 2024.
Lucas, who was one of two adults hurt along with eight other children, spoke out after news emerged that two more NHS staff were under investigation over allegations they inappropriately accessed Southport victims' medical records.
The latest cases were identified by Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital in a "retrospective audit".
PA MediaIn May, the University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHLG) admitted that nearly 50 of its staff had wrongly looked at victims' medical files.
The group runs Aintree Hospital in Liverpool, where some of the survivors of the attack were taken.
Lucas said: "What happened to me was already traumatic enough, but to discover that the very people entrusted with my care have violated my privacy causes further distress and secondary trauma.
"I should not have to fight for answers or accountability from a hospital where I was at my most vulnerable.
"Time and time again I've been placed in this position, driven by what I can only assume is an inexcusable morbid curiosity by medical staff trained and employed to care [for] and protect patients."
Lucas's solicitors confirmed that they had asked for an audit to be conducted by the hospital in September.
Elaine Macdonald, a solicitor at Broudie Jackson Canter, is representing Lucas.
She said: "Leanne has already suffered the indignity of at least 40 members of medical staff inappropriately accessing her medical records during her care at a hospital under the same trust.
"She is now being told that it may not have ended there. Each breach erodes her trust and is a clear violation of her privacy, when she was at her most vulnerable. This is a systemic issue that needs to be addressed urgently."
A separate investigation is also being held at North West Ambulance Service Trust in relation to staff looking up the victims of the attack without authorisation.
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital said it was "carrying out an investigation into two potential instances of inappropriate access connected to the Southport incident".
It added: "The cases were detected as part of retrospective audit and two members of staff have been placed on precautionary suspension whilst an investigation is concluded."
It said the case had been reported to the Information Commissioner's Office and the health regulator the Care Quality Commission.
The trust's medical director Manoj Kuduvalli said: "We are deeply sorry that this has happened.
"Our patients trust us with their most personal information at some of the most vulnerable moments in their lives, and any inappropriate access to those records is a serious violation of that trust.
"We have been clear with all colleagues that patient records must only ever be accessed for legitimate reasons connected to their role and the patient's care.
"We will not accept behaviour that compromises patient confidentiality or undermines the trust our patients place in us.
"We have spoken to those that are affected and will keep them informed as our investigation continues."
The data breach at UHLG happened at Aintree Hospital in Liverpool, where some of those injured were treated, in the days after the 29 July 2024 attack.
The BBC understands the three patients affected included Leanne Lucas and a 13-year-old girl who had been helping to supervise the dance class.
In May, UHLG described the breach as "inexcusable" and stressed that changes had been made, although no-one had been sacked.
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