Posted 05 January 2022 - 09:42
Posted 05 January 2022 - 09:42
News
Nurse struck off for stealing controlled drugs from hospital
NMC fitness to practise panel finds former St Mark’s Hospital, London nurse Michael Andaya's repeated dishonesty did not meet professional standards and put vulnerable patients at risk
NMC fitness to practise panel finds Michael Andaya was repeatedly dishonest after having stolen drugs from St Mark’s Hospital, London and inaccurately completed patient records
A nurse has been struck off after stealing controlled drugs from a London hospital and changing records to make it look like they had been prescribed to patients.
Michael Andaya, a nurse at London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, stole more than £3,500 worth of midazolam and fentanyl between October and November 2019.
Expressed regret and guilt at fitness to practise hearing
Mr Andaya, who worked at the bowel cancer and endoscopy unit at St Mark’s Hospital, was dismissed from his job in February 2020 and later convicted of theft and fraud at Hendon Magistrates Court the following September. He had stolen the drugs from the Harrow hospital over several weeks, completing patient records inaccurately so it appeared the drugs had been prescribed.
Following a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) fitness to practise hearing, he was struck off on 17 December.
At the hearing Mr Andaya, who had been a registered nurse since 2007, expressed regret and guilt for his actions and told the hearing that ‘after almost two years of reflection’ he wished he ‘could have done things differently’.
However, the panel found that he had been repeatedly dishonest over a period of seven weeks and that these actions did not meet the standard of the profession.
Did not fully grasp seriousness of his actions, says panel
The panel noted Mr Andaya’s abuse of his nursing position and that his behaviour put vulnerable patients at risk – something the panel did not believe he fully comprehended.
NMC chair Raymond Marley said: ‘The panel was of the view that Mr Andaya did not grasp the seriousness of his actions, which put patients at risk of harm, or the impact on his colleagues. It had no information that his insight had developed any further from the last hearing on 27 August 2021.’
‘To allow him to continue practising would undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body,’ he said.
Mr Andaya has 28 days to appeal the decision, with an interim suspension order of 18 months imposed to cover a potential appeal.
Find out more
Nursing and Midwifery Council Fitness to Practise Committee (2021) Substantive Hearing
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