A NURSE has been struck off after she was caught snoozing while on shift at Cirencester Hospital.

A hearing by the Nursing & Midwifery Council found that Martha Buddhala Elsie, who was working for staff agency A24 Group, was in danger of “undermining the public confidence in the profession” after she twice fell asleep while working a night shift in September 2012.

She was caught napping on the job by a colleague.

The panel in Stratford Place, London, heard last week that Mrs Elsie had also administered the wrong dose of medicine to a patient in April 2013  while working at Millbrook Lodge Care Home in Birdlip. She then failed to pass on the information to the head nurse.

Mrs Elsie, who did not appear at the hearing, was at risk of the same mistakes again after she failed to provide any evidence of trying to remedy the mistakes, the panel heard.

“In the absence of such evidence of insight, recognition and steps to remedy the concerns identified, this panel concluded that there remains a risk of repetition,” a report from the Nursing & Midwifery Council said.

“The panel had no evidence of any material change in circumstances since the time of the review hearing.

“If anything, the passing of a further period of almost 12 months since the review hearing means that her skills and knowledge may well not be up to date as she has provided no evidence of having taken any steps to address this in the intervening period.”

The report added that Mrs Elsie’s “fitness to practise remains impaired” and that she had failed to show any evidence of ‘insight, remorse and remediation’ and was unlikely to do so in the future.

She had been suspended from nursing while enquires went on, but has now been struck off.

The report concluded: “In the circumstances the panel determined, for all the reasons given above, that the only sufficient and proportionate sanction is to direct the Registrar to strike Mrs Elsie’s name from the Register.

“The panel has concluded that a striking-off order is necessary in order to protect the public, to uphold proper professional standards and to maintain confidence in the nursing profession and the NMC.”

This is not the first time Cirencester Hospital has come up against staffing issues.

Around Christmas last year the Standard reported that the minor injuries unit had been forced to close at night due to a lack of nurses.

Susan Field, director of nursing at Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust, said: “The safety of patients is fundamental to the care we provide and because of this we support this decision made by the NMC, which found that the nurse’s professional conduct put patients at risk of harm.

“The nurse in question was employed by an agency, not the Trust, and did not work any further shifts following this incident being reported.”