Senior nurse faces allegations of fixing A&E waiting times
An associate director of nursing is to appear at a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) misconduct hearing accused of falsifying A&E waiting times.
Naomi Holder, who works for Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, is due to face the regulator this month to answer the three charges.
It is alleged that:
- she entered incorrect information in the trust’s patient care information system between September 2008 and June 2009 that related to the amount of time patients spent in the accident and emergency department.
- she was dishonest in that she knew the information she was entering was incorrect and intended to create a misleading impression of the amount of time patients stayed in A&E.
- between January 2007 and June 2009 Ms Holder did not raise her concerns about the potential falsification of records with her employer and that her fitness to practise is impaired by reason of her misconduct.
A casualty manager and the director of nursing and midwifery were investigated and dismissed in 2009 for gross misconduct by the same trust after an internal investigation into falsified waiting figures.
Wider falsified data
Maria Jeffery and Michael Monaghan, faced an NMC hearing over the allegations in 2014. Ms Jeffery was given a caution order lasting 18 months and Mr Monaghan was given a caution order for five years.
At the time the NMC panel acknowledged there was a wider system that falsified patient data at the trust. However, the trust refuted allegations that falsifying of patient waiting times was actively condoned.
A trust spokesperson said Ms Holder has not been suspended. ‘This hearing refers to an allegation dating more than eight years ago in which the trust took immediate and appropriate action at that time.'
Staff dismissed
Two members of staff were dismissed as a result of the disciplinary hearings, said the spokesperson.
‘As the hearing is yet to take place, it would be unfair for the trust to comment further.’
In 2010 the government lowered a its target calling for A&E patients to be seen, treated, admitted or discharged within four hours from 98% to 95%.
In July 2013 two nurses who worked at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust were struck off the register after being involved in falsifying A&E discharge times.