Fraud accused nurse says she worked with bullies

Tanya Nasir said she wanted to "help people" by becoming a nurse

A woman accused of lying to get a job as a senior nurse at a neonatal unit had told a court she was suspended days after raising bullying concerns.

Tanya Nasir, 45, from Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, is on trial at Cardiff Crown Court, accused of nine counts of fraud and false representation.

She was suspended as ward manager at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend in February 2020 after concerns were raised about her CV and the date of her registration as a nurse.

Ms Nasir told the court she did not falsify her experience and qualifications to get the job.

Ms Nasir resigned two days before a hospital disciplinary hearing and was arrested on suspicion of fraud in April 2021.

She said she was fully qualified for the role in the neonatal unit and said she was suspended two days after voicing concerns about other nurses on the unit being bullied.

She said a "matriarch" of nurses held power on the unit and she had not realised the full scale of the problems until she started working in the unit in September 2019.

She added: "There was a clear hierarchy in the ward. Some of the nurses were being bullied and picked on by this matriarch group, they were criticised constantly, they were working in fear."

The court heard she said she could not talk to the neonatal matron Sian Townsend, because she was part of the "matriarch group," so she went to a senior manager.

"I raised my concerns, but she rearranged the meeting and two days later I was suspended," she said.

Ms Nasir said there was a "matriarch" of power on the ward at the Princess of Wales Hospital

She told the court she decided to become a nurse after spending time in a refuge with her two children, adding she was forced to leave her family home because of "violent, alcoholic" former partner.

She added: "The reason I started my nursing is because of the people in the refuge. I wanted to do something, I wanted to help."

The court has been told Ms Nasir falsified her qualifications and references to secure the band 7 senior sister post at the Princess of Wales Hospital.

She claimed to have significant nursing experience and told the interviewing panel she was a member of the Army reserve and would need time off to attend training camps.

The Army said she has never served in the Army or the reserves.

The trial continues.