UK: Hospital faces complaint about confidentiality breach

An investigation has begun into claims that a hospital worker broke confidentiality to tell a teenage patient’s family about her abortion.

The 19-year-old mother-of-two, said her grandmother, a Catholic, was told about it by an administration worker at Prince Charles hospital in Merthyr, BBC News Online reports. She is now considering taking further action against the hospital trust.

Cwm Taf NHS Trust said it was ‘engaged’ with the woman as part of the complaints procedure.

The patient, whose identity is not being made public, said her life had been ‘ruined’ by the revelations, with her grandmother ‘totally disowning’ her. Her children are aged 18 months and almost three.

She said she now regretted having the abortion because of the impact it had had on her family. ‘It was the hardest decision in the world. When I found out I was pregnant again, I didn’t think I would cope. Me and my boyfriend talked about having a termination. It certainly wasn’t something we did lightly.’

The woman added: ‘I’m a good mum and I love my kids. But I couldn’t have another baby. My boyfriend was off to the Army - I would have been left on my own with three babies.’

She said they decided not to tell her family about the medical abortion three months into the pregnancy. Instead she told her parents that she had gone for tests for a stomach complaint. The next day she visited her grandmother in Merthyr, and when asked, said her hospital tests had gone all right, BBC News Online reports.

She said her grandmother called out ‘liar’. ‘She told me her friend working at the hospital had told her all about it. She is a very strong Catholic and couldn’t forgive me.’

The woman said she had made a formal complaint to the hospital and had an apology. But she said she felt like she has been ‘fobbed off’. ‘Anyone who goes in hospital should be entitled to privacy and confidentiality. But a termination is even more personal and delicate - people don’t understand what you are going through deciding not to have a baby.’

A hospital spokesman said: ‘We can confirm that we are currently engaged with her as part of the complaints procedure. Consequently it would be in appropriate for us to comment further on this case.’

Hospital worker ‘told family of teenager’s abortion’. BBC News Online, 1 February 2010