Shrewsbury nurse struck-off after medicine error and cover-up attempt

A nurse from scandal-hit Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital ordered a pregnant woman to take medication she was allergic to.

Christine Speake, who had worked in the NHS for almost 40 years as a midwife and nurse, has been struck-off the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register after a tribunal heard she told the mother to “just take it” and then tried to cover-up her mistake after the woman suffered a reaction.

The NMC hearing was told the 11-week pregnant patient and her unborn child could have died after being prescribed the Buscopan by a junior doctor to treat severe nausea and vomiting in January 2019.

The woman – named only as 'Patient A' – was given the drug by Speake despite her allergy being included in her medical records. Speake was employed as a sister on the gynaecology ward at the Princess Royal Hospital.

When the mother questioned what she was being given, Speake, who has worked as a midwife and nurse since 1985, snapped "just take it".

The panel heard Patient A then had a violent reaction and broke out in a rash and started vomiting.

But Speake, who realised her mistake, then failed to tell her colleagues in a bid to “cover up” what she had done and later resigned, the NMC tribunal heard.

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Source: The Independent, 26 October 2021