A night-shift nurse accessed the medical records of a colleague who was on sick leave.

Lorraine Mcintosh faced disciplinary proceedings over her actions, which came to light when she was overheard discussing "blood test results and the reason for sick leave of another staff member" with a fellow employee.

The nurse, who had worked for NHS Tayside for 30 years, was also found to have accessed confidential files relating to family members and other colleagues at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

In findings released by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, it was revealed the overheard conversation in January 2015 prompted Ms Mcintosh's bosses to order an investigation into her use of the health board's computer system.

The watchdog stated: "This audit, which covered a three-year period, identified 28 instances where you (Ms Mcintosh) accessed patient records, without justification, using the IT system.

"The dates of these breaches ranged from August 7, 2012, to March 25, 2015, and all these incidents took place at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee.

"As well as accessing your own results, you also accessed the details of three of your colleagues, your husband, your two sisters, your brother and nine other patients without clinical justification."

The NHS worker was dismissed from her post in November 2015 after she admitted "inappropriately accessing patients' records" at the hospital.

The council suspended Ms Mcintosh from its register after she had admitted her judgment had been "clouded".

In a reflective piece submitted to the watchdog, the nurse stated: "I feel extremely grateful and fortunate to have been given the opportunity to practice and will continually strive to prove once again that I am so extremely remorseful and will always demonstrate that my practice is safe and within the NMC guidelines.

"I feel I have demonstrated insight into this chapter. There have been incidents after my dismissal whereby the nurses in the areas I have been working have offered me their password in order to allow me to input patient details into the computer system.

"I declined and reminded them that what they were asking of me was a breach of NMC guidelines and extremely serious.

"I fully accept accountability for my actions but I can reassure the panel I am deeply remorseful, ashamed and wholeheartedly want to reassure the panel that these actions will never be repeated."