Employees said to have accessed medical record of SA police commissioner's late son Charlie Stevens
Ten employees of South Australia's public health department have been suspended for allegedly accessing the medical records of the SA police commissioner's late son, according to reports.
Judith Formston, SA Health's deputy chief executive, told ABC News that it is carrying out an investigation into "potential inappropriate access" of a patient's record.
A total of 18 people are under investigation, according to Formston, including the 10 people who have been suspended.
These employees reportedly accessed the record of Charlie Stevens, the SA police commissioner's late son, who died last year after being struck by a car in Adelaide, ABC News reported.
Formston said they remained in touch with the Stevens's amid the probe, before apologising for the "distress caused" by the recent access to records.
"Protecting patients and their private clinical information is a matter we take extremely seriously," the deputy chief executive said. "We have robust policies and processes in place to ensure that staff are accessing appropriate information and conduct audits to ensure our policies are complied with."
The Stevens family did not comment on the ongoing probe, but the SA Police spokesperson confirmed that SA Health kept the family informed of the situation.
Meanwhile, SA Premier Peter Malinauskas slammed the actions of the employees involved, saying he "couldn't believe" the news when he heard it.
"Privacy of people's health records is there for a reason," he said as quoted by ABC News. "Just because you work in the health system doesn't give you a right to go looking into other people's businesses that isn't yours."
