A pharmacist at Victoria's leading trauma hospital has been dismissed after accessing more than 7000 patient records without authorisation.
Alfred Health on Thursday confirmed an investigation was launched into the worker's behaviour in June.
It found the pharmacist accessed more than 7000 medical records over a four-year period.
The worker had their employment terminated and the matter was referred to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
The worker could have accessed patient names, dates of birth, Medicare numbers, addresses and medical information like diagnoses and test results.
No financial information was included in the medical records.
"Accessing patient information when not directly involved a patient's care is completely unacceptable," Alfred Health chief executive Andrew Way said in a statement.
"We unreservedly apologise for the healthcare worker's misconduct."
The hospital has written to all affected patients and established a dedicated hotline to provide support, Professor Way said.
"There is no evidence that the former employee kept a copy of any data, shared data online or otherwise misused patient data," he said.
"Out of an abundance of caution we will continue to monitor this situation and we will let patients know if this changes."
Alfred Health has also introduced additional monitoring systems to its electronic medical records to better identify unusual behaviour.
