Somerset nurse struck off for wrongly prescribing medicines

Ian Evans worked at the South Petherton Community Hospital

A nurse has been struck off for prescribing medicine to hospital patients more than 300 times when he was not allowed to do so.

Ian Evans worked as a consultant nurse for stroke patients at South Petherton Community Hospital in Somerset.

He filled out 313 prescriptions for patients over a two-month period although he was not qualified to do so.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council said Mr Evans would "put the public at a continued risk of harm".

'Limited remorse'

Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust - which runs the hospital - said there was no evidence of any harm to patients as a result of Mr Evans' actions, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Evans was accused of prescribing medication to patients when he had not passed the relevant course, and as a result "failed to show the required level of integrity".

The trust estimated the prescriptions he prescribed were for 31 separate patients between November 2017 and January 2018.

After a new electronic prescription system was introduced, the hospital conducted an audit and demanded Mr Evans to prove he was qualified.

Mr Evans claimed at the time that the university he had attended "made a mistake" and did not inform the NMC that he had passed the relevant course.

The university subsequently confirmed Mr Evans was not qualified.

Mr Evans was not present at the hearing but accepted the charges against him in a letter to the Royal College of Nursing.

He admitted that his "fitness to practise is impaired", but added: "At no time did I intend to mislead anybody or in any way be dishonest."

The panel concluded Mr Evans "offered limited insight, remorse and remediation for his misconduct" and concluded that he should be struck off.

Mr Evans also said in a statement he did not want to return to the profession.

The trust has also welcomed the panel's conclusion.