No action against doc who accessed ECS

A hospital doctor accused of accessing the Emergency Care Summary records of high profile politicians, footballers and BBC journalists will not be prosecuted, Scotland’s Crown Office has decided.

Dr Andrew Jamieson, who worked at Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline, was accused of contravening the Data Protection Act by misusing access to the Emergency Care Summary database.

A Crown Office spokesperson told EHI Primary Care: “After full consideration of all the facts and circumstances, including confidential medical reports, Crown Counsel decided that no proceedings should be taken against Dr Andrew Jamieson. Letters explaining the decision have now been written to all those affected.”

The ECS is uploaded from GP systems every night and holds information on demographic details, current medications, allergies and adverse reactions for 5.2m patients in Scotland.

The summary is uploaded with implied consent and available to view on a ‘consent to view’ basis by NHS 24, out of hours centres and hospital accident and emergency departments.

In 2008, NHS Fife wrote to seven BBC journalists after discovering that a doctor working for it may have accessed records, and in December 2008 Dr Jamieson was charged with contravention of the DPA.

Jackie Bird, a newsreader on Reporting Scotland, was among those who were contacted by NHS Fife.

Scotland’s Sunday Mail claimed other records accessed included those of prime minister Gordon Brown, Scottish politicians Alex Salmond and Jack McConnell and Celtic footballers.

It reported that victims were told last week that it would not be in the public interest to prosecute Dr Jamieson after considering the nature of the breaches and medical reports on the accused.

Dr Jamieson was reported as saying he looked at the files out of curiosity and did not pass on the information or use it for financial gain.