How Many Other Cases Are There?

Families of the Nottingham stabbing victims have accused NHS staff of ‘gross and inexcusable voyeurism’ for illegally accessing their medical records. Up to 91 healthcare workers looked up the A&E files of the three people killed in the attacks, heaping fresh trauma on relatives. It takes the number of public bodies where staff have been accused of illegally looking up details of the triple murder to six, after police officers, prison and court staff as well as council and mental health workers were also caught out.

And if you think there was something unique about this case, and they wouldn't have done it to any others, I've got a bridge to sell you...

The Nottingham Trust, which runs the Queen’s Medical Centre where the victims were taken, has apologised and said it was investigating ‘concerns’ staff may have ‘inappropriately’ looked at their A&E records.

And almost certainly not just those records, but other high profile cases too. But how come the computer systems allow this sort of access to every Tom Dick and Harry with a NHS logon? 

Mrs Webber said: ‘I dread to think what else is yet to be uncovered. All we can say with complete certainty is that each and every single person and agency and organisation that has so disgracefully failed our loved ones will be found out and fully held to account. We have to do better in this country.’

I wish you well, but I think you're fooling yourself if you really believe they will face a moment's censure for this... 

"It appears that something has gone very wrong here.”

Robert Bracegirdle, 75, disappeared from his home in Goole in 2020 after struggling with mental health issues. A police search failed to find him and a coroner later ruled that he had died by drowning in the nearby River Ouse. His next of kin were forbidden access to his flat by East Riding council which promised to store his possessions until he was officially declared dead. However, when an inquest was held two years after his disappearance, the family discovered that the contents of his flat had been disposed of.

That's the sort of local council 'efficiency' we've come to expect... 

According to the housing law specialist Giles Peaker, partner of Anthony Gold Solicitors, relatives of council tenants who die without having made a will usually have to wait for a grant of probate before they can enter a property. However, in Bracegirdle’s case, probate could not be applied for until he was officially declared dead two years later, by which time his property had been disposed of. “Under the Tort (Interference with Goods) Act 1977 the council would have to keep the deceased tenant’s belongings secure and serve a notice on the administrator, executor and/or on the public trustee requiring collection of the belongings before disposing of them.” Peaker said.

And if they fail to follow that, never mind, the taxpayer will pick up the bill! Small comfort that will be to the bereaved relatives.... 

“The council told us that we were not allowed to enter the flat and remove any items because my uncle could not give permission,” said his niece, Charlotte Bracegirdle.“It said that once it had repossessed the property through the courts, it would take a full inventory of the contents and put them into storage until an inquest. My mum contacted them when an inquest date was set and received a two-line email, which didn’t even address her by name, stating that the contents had been disposed of as is ‘standard procedure’ when a property has stood empty for a long period. We suspect some of the more high-value items may have been sold.”

Shouldn't the police be involved then, as surely that's both theft and malfeasance in public office? 

East Riding council declined to respond to questions about when and how Bracegirdle’s belongings were disposed of. It said in a statement: “The council offers our deepest condolences, and regrets that the council’s actions caused distress at a difficult time for Mr Bracegirdle’s family. We acknowledge, now and at the time, that matters should have been dealt in a more sympathetic way. In response to the concerns that the family members have raised, we have changed our processes to ensure that similar cases are managed in a more sensitive way. This case is currently being dealt with by our insurers so we cannot comment in more detail at this time.”

How many other councils are doing this, I wonder? It's just another reason to ensure you have made a will.