A registered practical nurse practicing at the South Huron Hospital is currently under investigation from the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO) for accessing the personal health records of patients without consent or proper authorization.
According to documents preceding a hearing from the CNO, the nurse is accused of accessing the records of 8 patients on 21 occasions between June 15th of 2021, and December 2nd of that same year, while employed at the London Health Sciences Centre – Children’s Hospital of Western Ontario.
myFM has learned that a notice was issued to the local nurse sometime in mid-August. Records on the CNO’s website confirm that this individual is currently practicing at South Huron Hospital in Exeter.
The College of Nurses upholds practices and ethics standards for its members, keeping a record of all nurses authorized under them to practice, as well as reviewing any alleged professional misconduct of its members.
London Health Sciences Centre confirmed in a request for comment that this individual is no longer an employee there, but could not provide further comment at this time.
When asked what would happen if the allegations are proven, Jimmy Trieu, President and CEO of the Huron Health System (the accused’s current employer) told myFM, “If these allegations turn out to be true, then we would take appropriate steps with this individual.” Trieu didn’t outline what those steps would be.
He also assured members of the public that they would continue to uphold their employee standards, “We have strict hiring processes here at Huron Health System, and we do rigorous checks on all of our employees through their regulatory bodies if they belong to one, and that’s part of our normal hiring processes. We do hold in high regard the privacy and confidentiality of all patients that enter through our doors, and we conduct random audits every month, every week, to determine whether or not patient’s charts have been accessed inappropriately, and if we do find such, then we deal with them with the appropriate means. But rest assured, we do have processes in place to make sure that the information of our patients is protected through privacy and confidentiality.”
The College of Nurses confirmed that “if, due to its serious nature, a matter is referred to the Discipline Committee, decisions made by the Committee are generally published and available to the public,” however, they did not comment on their investigation. More information will likely become available following their hearing.
Written by: B. Shakyaver