AN ACCIDENT and Emergency department nurse has been struck off the register after taking ‘large quantities’ of drugs from the hospital.
Katie Jayne Fullerton, who worked in the emergency department at University Hospital Coventry (UHCW), has been struck off following a hearing by the Nursing and Midwife Council (NMC).
The panel of three members found Ms Fullerton had taken nearly 60 codeine tablets each containing 30mg from the trust in December 2013.
The nurse had been suspected of taking the medication, but pharmacy staff wanted to confirm she was taking the opiates.
From July 2013 the A and E department started using medication cabinets which required the use of a thumbprint and matching ID card in a bid to dispense drugs. The department set up a drawer for just Ms Fullerton to use, which confirmed she had been taking the tablets after 26 went missing.
The nurse lied to the panel and on oath, saying she believed agency staff could have taken the drugs.
It was in part her ‘serious and sustained’ dishonesty which led to her being struck of the register.
An NMC spokesman told Ms Fullerton: “The panel concluded that as a registered nurse you would have been aware the trust’s medication stock was assigned for patient use only. It noted that you were in a privileged position whereby you had access to codeine tablets, and it has found you took medication when you were not permitted to do so.
“You said that you would like to eventually return to nursing in the future because “it is all I have ever wanted to do”.
“You accepted patients would be concerned by your behaviour and would find it difficult to trust you. You accepted that currently there is a real risk of repetition of your actions if you returned to a clinical setting.
“Although there is no evidence of patient harm the panel determined you put your own need before that of your patient’s safety and wellbeing.
“The misconduct was calculated and dishonest, and had the potential to cause harm to patients and there remains a significant risk of repetition in the future.
“The panel determined that the appropriate and proportionate sanction is that of a striking off order.
“The panel considered this order was necessary to maintain public confidence in the profession and and to send to the public and the profession a clear message about the standard of behaviour required of a registered nurse.”
