Drunk nurse struck off after failing to comply with conduct case

An Ayrshire nurse has been struck off by the industry regulator after failing to comply with the governing body.

Elaine Mckenzie had previously been caught attending work while under the influence of alcohol.

She also failed to give her consent to undergo a health assessment when requested to do so.

In the wake of the incident, back in 2016, the NHS Ayrshire and Arran employee had been subject to a suspension order – with periodical review hearings into the matter.

However, the Nursing and Midwifery Council ( NMC) took the decision to strike her name off the register after she failed to co- operate with the ongoing case into her conduct.

In a nine- page written judgement the NMC Fitness to Practise Committee said: “The panel noted that the last reviewing panel found that, since the imposition of the original order in April 2018, Mrs Mckenzie’s insight had improved significantly. It had regard to a number of positive testimonials and took into account that Mrs Mckenzie had complied with the recommendations of the original panel by re- engaging with the regulatory process. She had made full admission to the charges and reflected on her misconduct, recognising the severity of her misconduct and the necessity for the imposition of the substantive suspension order.”

However, since the first review hearing in April 2019, there has been a “complete lack of correspondence” or “engagement” from Mrs Mckenzie. She “failed to respond” to numerous letters, emails and telephone calls made by the NMC in an attempt to seek up- to- date information regarding her current personal and professional circumstances.

It was noted that the previous reviewing panel found there were “no issues” raised regarding her clinical performance.

But the NMC report went on: “The notice of hearing informed Mrs Mckenzie that the deadline for her to submit evidence to the reviewing panel was 8 November 2019.

“Mrs Mckenzie has not supplied any of the information suggested by the last reviewing panel.

“Although she attended the first substantive order review in April 2019, she did not attend the last hearing, nor send any information in for that panel to consider. She has now completely disengaged from the NMC.

“Given the significant period of time since Mrs Mckenzie has engaged with the NMC the panel concluded that Mrs Mckenzie’s fitness to practise is currently impaired on the grounds of public interest.

“The panel concluded therefore that Mrs Mckenzie’s misconduct is now fundamentally incompatible with continued registration. It concluded that a striking off order is appropriate.”