Misconduct shame as 46 nurses thrown out

THE number of Scots nurses struck off for misconduct more than doubled last year, with 46 thrown out of the profession in 2012 compared with 21 the previous year.

In the first six months of this year, 19 have been struck off.

Figures from the Information Services Division Scotland revealed that there were 9,161 patient complaints in 2012-13, an increase of 13 per cent on the previous year.

The complaints included allegations of assault, injecting drugs stolen from the hospital, racist abuse, illegally accessing confidential records, serving alcohol to patients, failing to keep records and general incompetence.

A spokesman for the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said: ‘ All healthcare regulators have experienced an increase in referrals. This is due to the public being more aware of the role of the regulators and the action we can take. The public have a growing expectation of the service they can expect from healthcare professionals, are more informed of the action they can take and are more likely to make referrals.’

Among the cases heard by the NMC this year was that of Anne McGovern, a nurse at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Renfrewshire. She was struck off after being found guilty of illegally accessing the confidential medical records of 14 colleagues and their families.

Alison McLennan, a charge nurse/night sister at Caithness General Hospital, was also struck off after turning up for a shift drunk.

But the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) Scotland said there had been too many ‘inappropriate’ referrals to the NMC.

RCN Scotland associate director Norman Provan said: ‘There has been a substantial increase in referrals to the NMC over the last few years but it is too simplistic to infer that this reflects on standards of nursing care.

‘It is important that employers understand when it is appropriate, or not, to refer a nurse to the NMC. By providing good guidance to managers on when to refer a nurse to the NMC, and when not to, employers could help reduce inappropriate referrals in future.’