A midwife who stole medicine meant for pregnant women in her care has avoided jail.
Caroline Heap, 41, repeatedly used a syringe to withdraw drugs from sealed intravenous bags for her own use while working at Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.
She then left the potentially contaminated bags for administration to patients, exposing them to the risk of infection.
She was caught by suspicious colleagues who reported her to NHS Fife managers.
Heap admitted a charge of culpable and reckless conduct at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court on April 18 and sentence was deferred for the preparation of reports.
The offences were committed between September 21 and November 7 last year.
The Glenrothes woman was ordered to carry out 250 hours of community service to be completed within a year when she appeared before Sheriff Grant McCulloch on Friday.
The outcome has been welcomed by Detective Inspector Graeme Dursley of Kirkcaldy CID.
He said: “Heap risked the contamination of sterile medicine and her actions were completely inexcusable.
“I want to extend my sincere appreciation to staff at the Victoria Hospital for their vigilance in detecting and reporting this, as well as NHS Fife for their support.”
NHS Fife’s director of nursing Helen Wright added: “This was a serious breach of the professional standards we expect of our staff.
“Outpatient safety is of the utmost importance and we are constantly reviewing our systems and processes to ensure patients and processes to ensure patients receive safe care of the highest quality.”
She added: “Since this incident came to light we have subjected existing procedures around controlled drugs to futher review, taking the opportunity to tighten up protocols.”
For more on this story see Saturday’s Courier.
