A nurse at one of Somerset's main hospitals has been struck off after she failed to give morphine to a patient before they underwent surgery.

Amanda-Jane Price worked as a nurse at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton from June 2018, but was suspended from front-line duties in March 2019 after concerns were raised about her treatment of a patient.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has ruled that Miss Price had been "dishonest" with her colleagues and her ability to practice medicine safely was "impaired" – leading to her being struck off to protect the public.

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust – which runs the hospital – said Miss Price had been removed from "patient-facing" duties when this was brought to light and that no patients in her care were put at risk of harm.

An NMC panel convened virtually between August 15 and 19, with its ruling being published several weeks later.

Miss Price did not attend the virtual hearing, with the panel hearing that she had last communicated with the NMC on April 19, stating she "did not wish to engage" with the proceedings and did not wish to respond to the allegations made against her.

Miss Price was charged that on March 31, 2019, she did not administer morphine to an individual in her care (known only as Patient A), falsely recording in her notes that morphine had been given and lying to one of her colleagues.

A witness told the hearing that Miss Price had gone through the process of signing out morphine for Patient A, but subsequently told the witness that the morphine was "no longer needed".

An investigation by the hospital's emergency medicine consultant found that the morphine dose of 6mg had been noted on the patient's chart, but that the drug had not actually been administered.

The witness – whose name has not been made public – told the hearing: "I checked the count of the morphine again and it was accurate. There was no vial missing that would have suggested she had given it."

Miss Price subsequently admitted to falsifying the prescription chart during the hospital's internal investigation (which concluded in May 2019), admitting to "being consciously aware of her decision".

She was also found guilty of leaving the hospital's medication cupboard, which contained the morphine vials, unattended on the same date that Patient A was due to receive their dose.

The hospital's investigation stated: "She [Miss Price] has expressed no clear memory about the whereabouts of the keys to the drug cupboard whether it was in the drug cupboard or in her hands.

"She expresses no clear memory as to what the distraction was that called her away from the drug cupboard room."

As a result of Miss Price's actions, Patient A "underwent an invasive procedure without analgesia", and subsequently complained of being in pain.

The panel ruled that Miss Price "made a dishonest entry on the patient's chart, persisted in her dishonesty over a sustained period of time, tried to deflect responsibility, and maintained her dishonesty while the patient was in pain.

"This was deliberate dishonesty which concealed her failure in clinical issues and caused actual patient harm to a vulnerable victim." 

The panel concluded that Miss Price was guilty of misconduct and would initially be suspended, but added that she would be struck off if she did not lodge an appeal against this decision within 28 days of the hearing.

Since Miss Price has not responded to or challenged the NMC's ruling, she has now been struck off, meaning she can no longer practice as a nurse in Somerset.

The Somerset NHS Foundation Trust – which runs Musgrove Park Hospital – said that it had taken steps when the allegations came to light to ensure no other patients were put in harm's way.

A spokesman said: "It is regrettable when any healthcare professional loses their registration, but we welcome the outcome of this fitness to practise hearing undertaken by the NMC.

"As soon as we became aware of the incident, Miss Price was taken off patient-facing clinical duties while a detailed investigation took place.

"We are confident that the patients in her care did not come to any harm and colleagues in our emergency department, where she worked, quickly addressed any issues with the patient's care.

"As with NHS organisations across the country, we have a robust set of standards in place for the employment of staff to ensure they are fully qualified and suitable for the position they have applied for.

"This includes mandatory training on the awareness of our controlled drug administered policy."