The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Suspension for doctor who lied in Ebola case
Admitted recording lower temperature for nurse
Adoctorwholied about the high temperature of Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey was today suspended from practising for a month by medical watchdogs.
Dr Hannah Ryan, 31, took the temperature of Scottish nurse Ms Cafferkey as they waited to go through Ebola virus screening atHeathrow Airport, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) heard.
It revealed the nurse had a high temperature of 38.2C – a warning sign of Ebola found in west Africa, where they were returning from having volunteered to help fight the outbreak.
But instead of raising the alarm, Dr Ryan in a state of “panic” agreed a lowertemperature of 37.2C was to be recorded on a screening form, and Ms Cafferkey was allowed to travel home to Scotland carrying the “highly contagious” virus and putting others at “unwarranted risk”.
The medics were exhaustedfromtheirworkand travel and desperate to get home, the hearing was told.
Dr Ryan admitted misleading other medics with the lower temperature being put on the form at Heathrow.
While there were “extenuating circumstances” for her actions at Heathrow, her behaviour five days later was “deeply deplorable” the tribunal ruled.
When a consultant rang to investigate what had happenedat the airport she gave a “dishonest” response to conceal her involvement.
Dr Ryan admitted wrongdoing but denied her fitness to practise was impaired, but was found guilty of serious misconduct after an ninth-day hearing at theMPTS sitting in Manchester.
Dr Bernard Herdan, chair of the Tribunal, said: “Since the Tribunal is satisfied the risk of repetition of your misconduct is low, and there is no risk to patient safety, it has concluded that a one-month suspension will be sufficient to mark the seriousness of your misconduct.”