Ebola nurse expected at hearing on misconduct

EBOLA nurse Pauline Cafferkey is set to appear before a disciplinary panel today, accused of lying about her temperature in airport checks.

The 40-year-old could be struck off if found unfit to practise through misconduct.

Miss Cafferkey became infected with ebola while in Sierra Leone. She had medical checks at Heathrow but was admitted to hospital after her return to Scotland.

When she appeared before the Nursing and Midwifery Council 18 months ago, the hearing was in private but the latest proceedings are set to be held in public.

Miss Cafferkey, of Cambuslang, near Glasgow, is not legally obliged to appear before the twoday panel in Edinburgh but is expected to attend.

Detailed charges will be read out today, which may differ from draft charges posted on the NMC website in error last month. They state: ‘That you, a registered nurse, on December 29, 2014, while in the Public Health England screening area at Terminal 4, gave incorrect responses to questions 4.1 and/or 4.2 of the screening form and allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded on your PHE screening form.’

The questions ask people if they have a temperature or have had one in the past 48 hours – an early warning sign of ebola.

She also allegedly failed to tell a doctor taking her temperature she had taken paracetamol.