Edinburgh nurse who hacked records to 'harass, threaten and abuse' struck off

An Edinburgh nurse who hacked into the records of hundreds of workers and used information to ‘harass, threaten and abuse’ colleagues has been struck off.

Mental health nurse Paul Hutchison was caught snooping on records at the Royal Edinburgh hospital and fellow workers later told how he sent abusive messages to them on Facebook over a number of years, leaving them fearing for their safety.

The alarm was raised after he had accessed his own medical records and a senior colleague then discovered he had viewed an “alarming” number of staff medical records between 1 February 2018 and 25 January 2021.

After hospital chiefs discovered his behaviour an initial report listed over one hundred names of staff members records that Mr Hutchinson had accessed. He initially denied that he had accessed their records but later claimed it was “out of boredom”.

But he was found to have breached private data of 343 colleagues. Records showed that he had accessed one woman’s records one hundred and fourteen times. He then used that information in a ‘campaign to harass, threaten and abuse’.

A colleague referred to as Colleague X told how Hutchison had sent her Facebook messages at certain times about events she had kept private. Along with another referred to as Colleague A they stated that Mr Hutchison sent abusive messages to them on Facebook over a number of years. After finding out that he had accessed their medical records, they feared for their safety.

He was suspended by the regulator on 27 January 2021 and later convicted of criminal offences at Edinburgh sheriff court on 16 August, 2022. Hutchison was found guilty of ‘wrecklessly' accessing personal data and acting in a threatening and abusive manner. He was sentenced to two community payback orders to run concurrently of unpaid work or activities of two hundred and forty hours.

A panel at the Nursing and Midwifery Council concluded that Mr Hutchison’s conduct had caused harm and distress to the victims. In a strike off order on 11 January, 2024 it said: “Mr Hutchison’s conduct placed staff members at risk of harm. He committed a serious breach of trust and abused his position of authority.”

“Mr Hutchison’s conviction is likely to bring or have brought the nursing profession into disrepute. The public would be extremely concerned to hear that a nurse dishonestly accessed individuals medical records and also use that information in a campaign to harass, threaten and abuse Colleague A.”

A statement on his fitness to practice being impaired the NMC concluded he is liable in the future to in a way that could put patients at unwarranted risk of harm.