A NURSE of more than 25 years has been suspended after continually accessing a patient's private medical records at a Bradford district surgery.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) fitness to practice hearing found Lynne Preston looked at a patient's clinical records "without clinical justification".

This happened three times at Kilmeny Surgery in Keighley between February 29 and March 2, 2020.

On one occasion, Preston remained on the record for a total of 21 minutes and accessed a part that displayed information about his anxiety disorder from 2015.

Preston also disclosed the patient's medical information to third parties "without clinical justification and/or consent".

The ordeal is said to have caused the patient "significant emotional and psychological harm".

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) received a referral in respect of Preston on September 5, 2020. She first entered onto the NMC’s register on February 8, 1994.

At the time, she was employed by the Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust and worked as a community staff nurse in the District Nursing Team at Kilmeny Surgery.

She left employment at the trust on 20 April, 2020.

The NMC panel considered the case "very carefully" before deciding to make a suspension order with a review for a period of 12 months.

They said Preston's actions fell "significantly short of the standards expected of a registered nurse".

The panel said the patient had a "right to trust that the practitioners with access to his medical information would treat this information with respect and confidentiality."

However Preston was told that "you abused this position and breached Patient A's right to privacy, thereby causing Patient A significant emotional and psychological harm".

The panel did take into account her personal mitigation in that the incidents "took place during a deeply emotional and stressful time" for her which may have affected her judgment at the time.

They said it was a "serious lapse in judgment during a difficult period in your life".

A note, written by Preston, presented at the hearing, said: "I sincerely hope that this remains a one-off incident in my career."

A spokesperson for Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust told the Telegraph & Argus: “We are aware of the case.

"The nurse is no longer in our employment.”