Three young girls \u2013 Elsie Dot Stancombe, Alice da Silva Aguiar, and Bebe King \u2013 were killed in the attack on 29 July 2024, while 10 others were injured. The perpetrator was jailed for life last year.<\/p>\n
Some of the injured were treated at\u00a0University Hospitals of Liverpool Group. HSJ\u00a0has learned that a\u00a0\u201cstandard\u201d information access audit carried out by the trust in the days after the incident revealed that 48 staff accessed their records without a good reason. However, this information was not given to the patients involved until this week, following\u00a0HSJ\u2019s\u00a0inquiries.<\/p>\n
Leanne Lucas survived the Southport attack and was one of UHLG patients whose records were inappropriately accessed.<\/p>\n
She told\u00a0HSJ: \u201cI am absolutely devastated and horrified that my privacy has been invaded when I was at my most vulnerable.\u00a0\u00a0Nothing will take away my gratitude to the staff who saved my life, but 48 people not involved in my care abused their position of trust to access the files of victims who have suffered unspeakable trauma. The decision to keep this from me for almost two years is a new low. I am speaking out as I want this scandal and the attempted cover-up by senior management exposed for what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
The trust denies any attempt at a cover-up. Its board had originally planned to tell those involved about the breach.\u00a0However,\u00a0HSJ\u00a0understands its leadership changed their mind sometime in 2025, after trust directors decided that informing the patients would not be in their best interests, as it risked retraumatising them.<\/p>\n
The existence of the Liverpool trust\u2019s internal investigation was disclosed in a report written for the board\u2019s private meeting this month, which has been seen by\u00a0HSJ.<\/p>\n
The patients and their families have now been informed of the breach. To date, only Ms Lucas has waived her right to anonymity.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nicola Brook is a Legal Director at Broudie Jackson Canter, who represent three of the survivors, including Ms Lucas, at the Southport Inquiry. She said: \u201cthis is a truly unbelievable breach of privacy for victims of one of the most horrific attacks\u00a0this country has ever seen. This is more than a few bad apples when it was 48 different members of staff who, for no legitimate reason, chose to access vulnerable victims\u2019 records.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThat speaks to a culture, and one that will only change if there are real consequences for those responsible. For the trust to then try to hide that it happened is appalling. The trust has many questions to answer, and we will be ensuring our clients get those answers as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicola Ryan-Donnelly from Fletchers Solicitors has called the incident \u201ca deeply disturbing abuse of power and a shocking breach of privacy\u201d including of a young girl they represent.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is absolutely shameful that the trust have known about this gross breach since a few days after the attack, yet have sought to keep it from the survivors and their families until almost two years later. Our client, who is now growing into a young woman, is old enough to properly understand what this means; that staff opened her records, not to aid to her recovery but to pry.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added:\u00a0\u201cWe have already met with the trust to begin fully investigating this and will now be working to ensure that the trust gives her family the answers they deserve, and that those 48 staff who inappropriately accessed these records face proper accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n