Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing
NMC panel issues two-year caution to nurse Recley Costelo over patient confidentiality breach
A Nursing and Midwifery Council panel has imposed a two-year caution order on nurse Recley Wallace Costelo after finding he accessed a patient's records to obtain her phone number and texted her from his personal mobile. An allegation of sexual motivation was found not proved.
MedicWatch editorial · Published 27 May 2026 · Updated 10 July 2026
Warning (formally warned) — 2 years
Added to MedicWatch: 10 July 2026Report a correction
What does “formally warned” mean?
A formal warning is a note on the practitioner's record. It does not restrict practice but tells the public that the regulator considered the conduct to have fallen below expected standards.
Concerning Recley Wallace Costelo, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 23F1881O).
Decision date: 27 May 2026 · Hearing started 18 May 2026 and ended 27 May 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee found that nurse Recley Wallace Costelo accessed a patient's clinical records without clinical justification to obtain her phone number, then sent her two text messages from his personal mobile, breaching her confidentiality. The panel found his fitness to practise impaired on public interest grounds only and imposed a two-year caution order. An allegation of sexual motivation was found not proved.
Charges
That you, a registered nurse: (1) on 22 July 2024, accessed Patient A's clinical records, to obtain their phone number, without clinical justification [proved by admission]; (2) your conduct in charge 1 breached Patient A's right to confidentiality [proved by admission]; (3) breached professional boundaries in that you (a) winked at Patient A [not proved], (b) asked Patient A their age [admitted asking; not proved as a breach of professional boundaries], (c) sought to remain near Patient A when you ought to have been on a break [not proved], (d) sent Patient A a text message stating 'I hope you're ok after your appointment today' [proved by admission], (e) sent a text message stating 'Take care, you're cute by the way' [proved by admission], (f) sent the messages from your personal mobile [proved by admission]; (4) your conduct in charges 1 and/or 3 was sexually motivated in that you were pursuing a future sexual relationship [not proved].
Findings
The panel found charges 1, 2, 3(d), 3(e) and 3(f) proved by way of admission; charges 3(a), 3(b), 3(c) and the sexual motivation charge were found not proved. It found that accessing Patient A's clinical records without clinical justification to obtain her phone number and sending her two text messages from a personal mobile breached her right to confidentiality and professional boundaries, fell seriously short of the standards expected of a registered nurse, and amounted to misconduct. Fitness to practise was found impaired on public interest grounds only; the panel considered repetition highly unlikely and imposed a caution order for a period of two years.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
Mitigating factors
One-off incident; immediate acknowledgement of having fallen short of the standards expected of a registered nurse; full engagement with the NMC process and immediate admission to all charges found proved; steps taken to strengthen practice, including relevant training courses and reflection on the impact on Patient A, colleagues and the wider public interest; sufficient insight demonstrated; safe and professional work in the same or similar role since the events; positive testimonials from manager, colleagues and patients.
Aggravating factors
Abuse of a position of trust.
Source
All facts on this page are drawn from the publicly published Nursing and Midwifery Council determination linked below. MedicWatch does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.
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