Nurse struck off for 'serious breach' at hospital

Sharon McCreadie was struck off by a misconduct panel

A nurse who took medication from the hospital she worked at has been struck off for misconduct, over "a serious breach of fundamental standards".

Sharon McCreadie was also found to have behaved in an "inappropriate" and "intimidating" manner towards colleagues at Northampton General Hospital.

A panel at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said there was no case to answer regarding allegations of racially offensive language or discriminative behaviour.

Ms McCreadie did not attend the misconduct hearing, but during an earlier investigation by the hospital trust, claimed to be a victim of "bullying and harassment by a clique on the ward".

She acknowledged that she had used some language that "could be regarded as inappropriate, taken out of context".

The panel found Ms McCreadie "took a quantity of medicine" from her employer without permission on 18 September 2022, as first reported in the Northampton Chronicle.

It noted that although this was a one-off incident, "other concerns occurred over an extensive period of time".

It said: "Ms McCreadie's dishonest conduct and behaviour towards colleagues are suggestive of deep-seated attitudinal concerns."

One colleague said she had changed wards after being shouted at and feeling "threatened" by Ms McCreadie.

"I was really upset about what happened. I felt really stressed and couldn't concentrate on my jobs any longer," she told the investigation.

'Dereliction of duties'

On another occasion, Ms McCreadie refused to work an allocated shift alongside a particular colleague, "leaving the ward understaffed".

The panel said this amounted to "a dereliction of her nursing duties".

Another colleague accused Ms McCredie of using racially offensive terms, but the pane said "there was no evidence" to support that charge.

Ms McCreadie was notified of the hearing in February but sent an email on 25 March saying she was "unaware this meeting was tomorrow, or that it was virtual".

"I was given no option to prepare or submit anything. I will not be participating in tomorrow's meeting…I have no desire to be a part of the NMC or nursing," she wrote.

The panel decided that Ms McCreadie's actions "did fall seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and amounted to misconduct".

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Chief Nurse, Julie Hogg, said: "The Trust can confirm that this individual no longer works for the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire and was referred to the NMC as part of our due diligence and professional regulation responsibilities."