A former 111 call centre adviser from Pinner has been found guilty for illegally accessing medical records of a child.

Martin Swan, 56, has been fined after working as a service adviser at the NHS 111 call centre in Southall.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said a complaint was raised following a disagreement during a 111 call over the distance to a medical centre, prompting him to access the records of the complainant, their child and two other relatives.

The records were accessed without consent or a legal reason to do so, the ICO added.

Swan produced screenshots of the child’s patient notes at an internal investigation meeting in June 2016.

He then accused the father of falsifying events and was dismissed for gross misconduct in November 2016.

In 2017, Swan threatened to report the father for neglect.

A warrant was issued for Swan’s arrest after he failed to attend a hearing in April 2018.

He surrendered to the warrant in January 2023 and appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates Court on February 15, 2023.

Swan pleaded guilty to five counts of unlawfully obtaining personal data in breach of the Data Protection Act.

He was also fined £630 with a victim surcharge and court costs totalling £1,093.

Andy Curry, ICO head of investigations, said: “When seeking medical help, people should never have to think twice about how their information is handled and whether their patient records are secure.

“The NHS 111 helpline offers a valuable service and people need to trust that the handlers operating this service are being responsible with the details provided.  

“This case shows that the ICO will take action when personal records are accessed unlawfully. As well as being an invasion of privacy, these actions seriously jeopardised the trust built between the service and its users.”