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Nurse who claimed sick leave while working bank shifts struck off

Mental health nurse Neneh Fofanah told NMC FtP hearing that she had an agreement with her employer she could work bank shifts as they were office based

Mental health nurse Neneh Fofanah told NMC FtP hearing that she had an agreement with her employer she could work bank shifts as they were office based

Nurse who claimed sick leave while working bank shifts struck off
Picture: Barney Newman

A nurse who worked bank shifts at a different trust while claiming sick leave from her employer has been struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Neneh Fofanah worked several bank shifts for Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust between July 2014 and October 2015 while employers at Cheshire and Wirral Patnership NHS Foundation Trust believed she was ill, an NMC Fitness to Practise (FtP) hearing heard last month.

Nurse convicted of six counts of fraud in April 2021

The mental health nurse maintained her innocence, arguing that she had an agreement with her employer that she could work bank shifts as they were mainly office based.

Despite her defence, Ms Fofanah was convicted of six counts of fraud at Nottingham Crown Court in April 2021. She was later sentenced to nine months in prison suspended for 18 months.

According to the NMC report, she told the FtP hearing that she would not ‘be forced to be insightful or demonstrate remorse’ when she believes she has done nothing wrong.

‘You reiterated that you were entitled to sick pay from the trust and permitted to work elsewhere at the same time, and this was the agreement. You stated that you believe this is acceptable and you were not told you could not do this,’ the FtP papers state.

‘Specifically in respect of the compassionate leave, you said that it was fine for you to claim sick pay and work elsewhere as this leave was not due to ill-health.’

Panel concluded that conviction was a serious departure from the standards expected of a registered nurse

During the FtP hearing on 23 September, Ms Fofanah told the panel that the ‘NMC is not fit for purpose.’

The hearing report added that Ms Fofanah said she ‘no longer wants to be a registered nurse’, as she ‘would rather not work for an organisation that has no integrity’.

She added that her ‘integrity is more important than her nursing registration’.

The panel concluded that her conviction was both a serious departure from the standards expected of a registered nurse and a serious breach of the fundamental tenets of the nursing profession.

The NMC decided that her behaviour, without insight or remediation, meant the only course of action would be to strike her from the register.

The Cheshire and Wirral Patnership NHS Foundation Trust was contacted for comment, but they said they were unable to comment due to the current appeal window of 28 days.


Find out more

Nursing and Midwifery Council Fitness to Practise Committee: Substantive Hearing


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