MOXHAM: NURSE SUSPENDED FOR GIVING PRISONER UNPRESCRIBED DRUGS

A jail nurse who gave unprescribed anti-nausea drugs to an ‘aggressive’ inmate was suspended for six months.

Ian Moxham, 38, gave metoclopramide tablets to the prisoner while working as a deputy manager at the Healthcare Centre, HMP Preston.

He then failed to record any reference to the pills on the man’s prescription card or in the prison sick file.

The matter came to light the next day when the prisoner, identified only as Patient A, asked another nurse for the same prescription-only drugs.

Patient A said he had already received metoclopramide from Moxham and went on to write a letter of complaint about his treatment.

The nurse, who did not attend the hearing, was found guilty of misconduct by a panel of the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Neil Moloney, for the NMC, said: ‘This behaviour represents obvious risks to the patient’s safety as the registrant has been found to have administered medication that was not prescribed.

‘The context is also of concern because this is medication which will have currency within the prison environment, which makes it even more important that it is well-documented.

‘He could have potentially undermined confidence in the profession in the minds of the public.’

On being confronted by a colleague about the incident on August 13, 2007, Moxham initially denied it.

But he eventually admitted giving out the pills ‘after the patient became aggressive,’ the hearing was told.

Panel chairman Lesley White said Moxham had been hauled in front of a disciplinary hearing in early 2008.

She said: ‘The registrant was asked why he gave the medication to Patient A and he said it was when he was tired, emotional and stressed.

‘The panel has taken into account evidence that he was put under pressure by Patient A at a time of great personal difficulty.

‘It takes into account that this was only one incident, but regards his failings as so serious they amount to misconduct.’

If Moxham had co-operated with the NMC hearing he could have been punished less harshly, she added.

But by failing to attend, he had denied himself the opportunity to express regret or show how he had changed.

Charges of dispensing metoclopramide without a prescription, failing to record his actions and failing to make a note in the prison sick file were found proved in his absence.
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