KONONO: NURSE WHO STOLE DRUGS FROM CARE HOME IS STRUCK OFF

A nurse who stole prescription painkillers from a care home then claimed she had ‘forgotten they were in her pocket’ has been thrown out of the profession.

Susan Takesure Konono took the medication while working a shift an Anville Court Nursing Home in Wolverhampton.

The agency nurse claimed she was ‘preoccupied’ and only remembered the drugs were in her pocket when she returned home.

She was given a suspended jail term after she pleaded guilty to theft and possessing class A drugs at the city’s Crown Court in August 2010.

Following a hearing in central London, a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel ordered Konono be struck off the nursing register.

Panel chair Michael Cann said: ‘This misconduct involved significant dishonesty.

‘We have concluded that the aggravating features, coupled with the near absence of mitigating factors are such that the public interest demands nothing less than an order she be struck off the register.’

Linda Nxumalo, for the NMC, told the panel she had been supplied to the Bupa-owned nursing home by agency Ambition 24 to work a single shift on July 28 last year.

‘During the shift she had access to the room with the drug cabinet in, and the key to access the cabinet,’ she said.

‘Two days later, nursing staff discovered that a number of fentanyl patches were missing. These are morphine-based painkillers.

‘During her shift she had not signed in or out any drugs from that cabinet.’

Konono was arrested two days later and a search of her home uncovered the drugs, the hearing was told.

‘She was asked if she had any of the patches and initially denied that she did,’ said Miss Nxumalo.

‘But on searching her home, four patches were found underneath her dressing table.

‘In interview she said she had forgotten they were in her pocket and that she must have been called away because it was a busy day.

‘She said she did not discover them until she got home and thought it would be OK to return them when she next returned to the home.

‘She referred to being preoccupied during she shift and having found out about her daughter having a miscarriage.

‘But she was responsible for managing risk and should have been aware that her practice would be affected and taken appropriate action.’

Konono, who did not attend the hearing, was given a six-month jail term, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 80 hours’ unpaid work at Wolverhampton Crown Court on August 20.

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