“We view this very seriously and think you have not fulfilled your obligations to us as employers and especially not to our patients,” the head of personnel at the clinic wrote to the man.

The man, who is in his thirties, has been a registered nurse in the health care sector since 2006, and is employed by the North Älvsborg county hospital in Trollhättan, in south west Sweden.

After the incident was discovered, he was called in to meet with his employers, which resulted in the formal reprimand.

The nurse was told that even though it was impossible to work out who the person is in the picture, posting it up on Facebook amounted to a violation against patient/doctor confidentiality.

As punishment for what he had done, the nurse received an official warning and was told that should such an incident happen again the hospital would not hesitate to fire him.

“We would like to inform you that if you don’t change your behaviour this could ultimately mean your dismissal in accordance to current employment law,” the head of personnel wrote in the reprimand.