The London Clinic, where the Princess of Wales underwent abdominal surgery in January, has released a statement following claims staff tried to access Kate Middleton’s medical records.
The clinic has vowed that all appropriate steps will be taken when dealing with the alleged data breach.
CEO Al Russell said: “Everyone at the London Clinic is acutely aware of our individual, professional, ethical and legal duties with regards to patient confidentiality.
"We take enormous pride in the outstanding care and discretion we aim to deliver for all our patients that put their trust in us every day.
"We have systems in place to monitor management of patient information and, in the case of any breach, all appropriate investigatory, regulatory and disciplinary steps will be taken.
"There is no place at our hospital for those who intentionally breach the trust of any of our patients or colleagues."
A data watchdog has reportedly launched an investigation into claims Kate Middleton’s private medical records were attempted to be viewed by staff at The London Clinic.
Details of Kate’s condition have not been disclosed but Kensington Palace previously said it was not cancer-related and that the princess wished for her personal medical information to remain private.
At least one member of staff tried to access Kate’s notes while she was a patient at the private hospital in central London, The Mirror reported.
Statement to @itvnews from the private hospital which treated both the Princess of Wales and King Charles.@thelondonclinic is facing claims of a potential data breach involving staff attempting to access Kate’s medical records.
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) March 20, 2024
Kate has been informed.https://t.co/mTiuzveqJL pic.twitter.com/8PjnY4jRed
Kate has also been informed about the claims, according to ITV.
Kensington Palace said: “This is a matter for The London Clinic.”
The UK privacy and data protection watchdog said it had received a breach report.
An Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) spokesperson said on Tuesday (March 19): “We can confirm that we have received a breach report and are assessing the information provided.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here