AN employee at NHS Bolton has been sacked for accessing personal information for their own interest.

Privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch has published a report showing that 806 separate incidents involving patient medical records being compromised took place at 152 NHS trusts between July, 2008, and July, 2011.

Information was lost, shared on Facebook and NHS staff were also found to have looked at each other’s medical records.

In Bolton, a civilian member of staff, not a medical professional, breached data protection policy.

They were dismissed but a criminal prosecution did not follow. A spokesman for NHS Bolton said: “We can confirm in the past three years one member of staff was dismissed from employment for accessing personal information for personal interest.”

NHS Bolton, the primary care trust, refused to reveal the employee’s gender, the role they held or where they worked.

According to the Big Brother Watch report, which was compiled from data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, only 102 staff were dismissed following incidents where patient medical records were compromised.

Nick Pickles, director of Big Brother Watch, said: “This research highlights how the NHS is simply not doing enough to ensure confidential patient information is protected. Urgent action is needed to ensure we can be sure our medical records are safe.