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A pharmacist who sent confidential patient information to his now former wife on WhatsApp including images showing parts of one individual’s body taken during a consultation has been suspended for four months.

A General Pharmaceutical Council fitness-to-practise committee found Zohaib Hussain failed to maintain and protect patient confidentiality having sent photos and information on the social media platform.

On one occasion, he sent a picture of a patient who was suffering from a rash exposing their abdomen, thigh and part of their breast as part of a consultation. Another picture sent by Hussain showed the same patient uncovering her back and part of her buttocks and a third image showed the patient’s arm.

He followed this by sending his ex-wife a message that read: “That’s what I was doing on WhatsApp before. Looking at patients’ bodies”. She replied “Yuk” before Hussain responded: “Not the selfies I wanted” and “came on last night. All of it. Like wth. Go see GP”. He then posted several laughing emojis.

The committee heard he sent two more pictures of the patient sitting on a toilet with their clothes pulled down to reveal the rash on their leg and buttocks. Hussain sent another message which read: “Update. Getting worse. More red now.”

The committee also heard he sent his ex-wife a picture of a patient’s discharge letter. Although their details are not visible in the screenshot, information such as the date of their admission and procedure and the discharging professional were visible.

Another photo sent by Hussain appeared to be an NHS 111 referral regarding a patient reporting cellulitis in their leg, with the case reference number and referrer name.

His ex-wife, who gave evidence to the hearing, recalled “several other occasions” when Hussain sent her messages including “photographs of a sensitive nature” and images which also included NHS staff ID cards, a note regarding a patient returned medicine and several medication boxes and prescriptions where patient details are clearly visible.

Used third party’s phone to check prescriptions

The committee also heard Hussain, who was the responsible pharmacist at Oakenshaw Pharmacy in Bradford, removed flu vaccines from the pharmacy to vaccinate his family and then falsified records to indicate they were administered at the pharmacy.

He asked his ex-wife to administer a flu vaccination to him even though he knew she was untrained to do so.

The committee heard Hussain was away from the pharmacy for over two hours while signed in as the responsible pharmacist, during which time he used a third party’s phone to check prescriptions for a patient and “address pharmacy matters”. Controlled drugs were dispensed in his absence.

However, the committee dismissed allegations that Hussain inaccurately claimed Covid tests for family members and that he asked someone to request a prescription for the contraceptive pill from their GP so he could profit from the repeat prescription.

The committee concluded a suspension was sufficient because there was “a low risk” of him repeating his offending and said he had “demonstrated considerable insight, remorse and remediation”.