Nurse is struck off after drug blunder

A NURSE at one of Somerset’s main hospitals has been struck off after she failed to give morphine to a patient before they underwent surgery.

Amanda-Jane Price worked as a nurse at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton from June 2018, but was suspended from front-line duties in March 2019 after concerns were raised about her treatment of a patient.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has ruled that Miss Price had been “dishonest” with her colleagues and her ability to practise medicine safely was “impaired”, leading to her being struck off

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said Miss Price had been removed from “patient-facing” duties when this was brought to light and that no patients in her care were put at risk of harm.

Miss Price did not attend the virtual hearing, with the panel hearing that she had last communicated with the NMC on April 19, stating she “did not wish to engage” with the proceedings and did not wish to respond to the allegations made against her.

Miss Price was charged that on March 31, 2019, she did not administer morphine to an individual in her care (known only as Patient A), falsely recording in her notes that morphine had been given and lying to one of her colleagues.

A witness told the hearing that Miss Price had gone through the process of signing out morphine for Patient A, but subsequently told the witness that the morphine was “no longer needed”.

An investigation by the hospital’s emergency medicine consultant found that the morphine dose of 6mg had been noted on the patient’s chart but that the drug had not actually been administered.

The witness told the hearing: “I checked the count of the morphine again and it was accurate. There was no vial missing that would have suggested she had given it.”

Miss Price subsequently admitted to falsifying the prescription chart during the hospital’s internal investigation, admitting to “being consciously aware of her decision”.

She was also found guilty of leaving the hospital’s medication cupboard, which contained the morphine vials, unattended on the same date that Patient A was due to receive their dose.

The panel concluded that Miss Price was guilty of misconduct and would initially be suspended.

Since Miss Price has not responded to or challenged the NMC’s ruling, she has now been struck off, meaning she can no longer practice in Somerset.