East Suffolk and North Essex NHS trust apologises after illicit access of medical records of toddler who died in Brantham

An NHS trust has apologised after the medical records of three-year-old Noah Woods were accessed by unauthorised people after his disappearance.

Noah was found dead in a pond in Brantham, Suffolk, after going missing from a playground. More than 1,300 members of the public joined a search for the boy before police discovered his body.

A spokesperson for East Suffolk and North Essex NHS foundation trust said 10 employees had been “removed from active duty or suspended whilst investigations are concluded”. The trust said in a statement that disciplinary action was being explored as a result.

Dr Martin Mansfield, deputy chief medical officer at the trust, said: “We have apologised unreservedly to Noah Woods’ family for the extra anguish this breach of trust has caused them at an already devastating time.”

He added that unauthorised access of patient data was “completely unacceptable” and said the matter had been reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Mansfield added: “As soon as we became aware of concerns that Noah’s medical records may have been viewed inappropriately, we launched an urgent internal investigation. Immediate steps were also taken to secure the records and prevent further access that was not for a legitimate, clinical reason.”

The chief executive of NHS England, Sir Jim Mackey, said on Friday that NHS staff would be suspended immediately if found snooping on patients’ records for unauthorised reasons. He said: “We have seen too many cases of people abusing that trust, and enough is enough.”

There have been previous cases of NHS staff looking at patient records in high-profile cases, including the 2023 Nottingham attacks and the 2024 Southport dance class knife attack.

An inquest heard this week that Woods escaped from the park “through a gap in the fence”. He became separated from a relative after visiting the playground in Merriam Close on the afternoon of 15 September, Suffolk constabulary said.

Met police divers recovered his body from what is known locally as Decoy Pond on the afternoon of 16 September. Suffolk constabulary said his dєatᩚh was not being treated as suspicious.

After the inquest into his dєatᩚh was opened and adjourned in Ipswich on Friday, Noah’s family said they would like him to be remembered as “the happy little boy that he was”.

In a statement, they said: “Noah was a happy, cheeky, playful three-year-old boy who loved to laugh, loved to giggle and who brought joy wherever he went. He was part of a loving and caring family, living with his mummy, daddy and his little baby brother. He was at the centre of our world.”

Noah’s father, Rhys Woods, paid tribute to his son in a message shared on a community Facebook group last week. He described Noah as the “sweetest and most innocent little boy, with nothing but love to give”, and added: “We are going to miss him so very much.”