Lähihoitaja sentenced for 186 data protection offences after unauthorised access to patient records in Jyväskylä

Keski-Suomi, published by Yle

A district court in Central Finland has sentenced a practical nurse to four months of conditional imprisonment for 186 counts of unlawfully accessing patient data. The court also ordered the defendant to pay significant compensation to the victims.

The nurse, who worked at Central Finland’s wellbeing services county, accessed the personal health records of 186 individuals without legal justification between April 2022 and June 2023. Originally, charges were filed for 192 offences, but six were dismissed. Many of the victims were acquaintances of the nurse, including a childhood friend’s sister, a former colleague’s child, and a friend of her partner.

The court found that the nurse conducted an excessive number of unauthorised searches, with some victims’ records accessed nearly 30 times. The defendant claimed during hearings that her motivation was curiosity, and she argued that her employer had failed to adequately train her on the proper handling of patient data.

However, the court dismissed these claims, stating that the employer’s training and internal guidelines had been properly communicated. Witnesses, including representatives from the wellbeing services county and a fellow student, testified that the rules regarding lawful access to patient information were clearly explained from the beginning of the nurse’s training.

The defendant denied the charges and requested that compensation payments be reduced to a quarter of the original amount, citing financial difficulties and inadequate training. The court rejected this request, ruling that no reduction in compensation was warranted.

The nurse was under 21 years old at the time of the offences and had no prior criminal record.