A former healthcare worker has been cautioned by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for trying to obtain and sell Catherine, Princess of Wales’ medical records.<\/p>\n
The ICO began their criminal investigation in March 2024, following a report that a member of staff at the London Clinic tried to access the princess’s notes while she was a patient there for abdominal surgery earlier that year.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the private hospital said: “We are pleased our work with the ICO has brought this sad and isolated incident to a conclusion. There were no regulatory breaches by the hospital.”<\/p>\n
The ICO said a caution was “the appropriate and proportionate enforcement response”.<\/p>\n
The privacy and data protection watchdog said there had been “deliberate misuse of highly sensitive personal information and an offer to disclose it for financial gain”. <\/p>\n
They added that their investigation did not find any evidence of “wider organisational issues arising from the healthcare provision in this matter”.<\/p>\n
The ICO’s executive director for regulatory supervision, Ian Hulme, said: “People should be able to trust that the personal information they’re giving to healthcare settings is safe and protected from exploitation. <\/p>\n
“When this trust is broken, it’s right that the law allows us to take action.”<\/p>\n
The London Clinic, near Regent’s Park in central London, describes itself as the UK’s largest independent private hospital and is frequently used by royals.<\/p>\n
Catherine had abdominal surgery<\/a> at the hospital in January 2024 and stepped back from public duties during her recovery.<\/p>\n Two months later, she revealed she had been receiving treatment for cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n