A MIDWIFE who accessed a patient's medical records three days before starting a relationship with him has been struck off.

Catherine Head also accessed the man's former partner's records at Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton.

Head had absolutely no clinical justification for accessing either of the documents, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard.

She first met the man, referred to only as Service User A, on December 28, 2012.

Head nosed through his medical records and struck up a romantic relationship with him on December 31 that year, the hearing was told.

She then accessed his ex-partner records during a night shift.

Head claimed she was trying to establish whether she had been the attending midwife at the birth of their son a decade earlier.

The matter was brought to the attention of Head's employers at the University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust and she was suspended in March 2013. She was then dismissed in November 2013.

Head was found to have inappropriately accessed patients' medical records, and breached patient confidentiality.

She was struck off.

NMC panel chair Michael Cann said: “The panel concluded that Mrs Head's behaviour was deplorable, and would be considered as such by other members of the profession as well as by the public.

“The panel considered that Mrs Head's failings had put patients at an unwarranted risk of harm through the distress that she caused to Service User A and Service User B.

“Further, the panel was of the opinion that Mrs Head's failings had undermined the reputation of the profession and brought the profession into disrepute.

“The information disclosed was particularly sensitive and had been withheld from Service User A until Mrs Head disclosed it to him.

“The panel determined that Mrs Head had taken a very cavalier approach to the issue of confidentiality, and that she was clearly aware that her actions were wrong.

“The panel had no doubt that Mrs Head acted as she did for her own benefit, and not from a mistaken view that she was helping Service User A to access his medical records.

“In addition, the panel noted that the information she disclosed about Service User B to Service User A was extremely sensitive, and that her failings were at the higher end of the spectrum in this regard.

“The panel was of the opinion that Mrs Head had not acted with integrity and had not been open and honest about her actions during the Trust's investigation.

“Rather she tried to cover up and provide excuses for why she acted as she did."