Birmingham nurse stole coma patient's debit card
- Published
Daniel Ncazana was employed as an A&E nurse at Queen Elizabeth Hospital
A nurse who stole a debit card from a coma patient and claimed it was because he had been "cursed" while on holiday in South Africa has been struck off.
Daniel Ncazana, 50, formerly an A&E nurse with University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, has been sanctioned by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
He was previously jailed for six months for admitting theft and fraud.
The hospital trust said it "fully supports" the decision.
An NMC hearing was held on 20 March after Ncazana pleaded guilty to the two charges at Birmingham Magistrates' Court in August 2017.
The patient was admitted to Queen Elizabeth Hospital's A&E on 6 November 2016 after being found unconscious at the bottom of a flight of stairs at his home, he remained in a coma.
The next month, his family contacted police after realising the card had been used on a number of occasions while he was still comatose.
It had been used to pay for items at Greggs, a BP garage and Sports Direct.
CCTV from the garage and Sports Direct showed what appeared to be the same man paying for goods at the times the card had been used.
'Profession into disrepute'
Police started a social media appeal to track down the suspect.
In March 2017, Ncazana contacted police after being told of the appeal by colleagues. He admitted stealing and using the card eight times.
In a report of the hearing, external, the NMC said Ncazana's actions caused unwarranted risk of financial harm to the patient, brought the nursing profession into disrepute and "breached a fundamental tenet of nursing in that he did not act with honesty and integrity".
Ncazana was given a striking-off order and made subject of an 18-month interim suspension order to allow him to appeal against the decision.
The hospitals trust said Ncazana had not been employed there since April 2017.