Nurse punished for file offence

An Auckland nurse has been suspended after being found guilty of accessing patient files without proper authority.

The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal said Miu Ha Hamme Paterson had accessed the records of a woman patient whose name was suppressed. Paterson had supplied the records to the woman, and also to the woman's former partner.

A hearing this year found Paterson guilty of the charges and the tribunal's decision on her penalty was issued yesterday. She was censured and suspended for three months and ordered to pay $5000 costs, about 10 per cent of the hearing's cost.