Nurse faces being STRUCK OFF over claims she hid having deadly Ebola when she returned to Scotland
Pauline Cafferkey, 40, was infected in December 2014 after travelling to Africa to help combat the disease
A BRIT nurse who went to Africa to help fight Ebola could be struck off for concealing that she had caught the disease when returning to the UK.
Pauline Cafferkey, 40, was infected in December 2014 after responding to an NHS appeal for medical staff to travel abroad to combat the outbreak.
But it is now claimed she misled doctors screening passengers as she returned from Sierra Leone to London Heathrow.
Cafferkey, from Crossgates, Fife, is accused of intentionally trying to conceal her high temperature by taking paracetamol – which she then failed to mention to medical staff.
She made it through the checks and was passed fit to board a connecting flight back to Scotland.
But the next day she was rushed to hospital in Glasgow before being brought back to London to be placed in a specialist isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital.
Cafferkey is now the subject of an investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), and could lose her job if she is found to have misled Public Health England doctors.
The charges read: “That you, a registered nurse, on 29 December 2014 whilst in the Public Health England (PHE) screening area at Terminal 4, gave incorrect responses to questions 4.1 and/or 4.2 of the screening form and allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded on your PHE screening form.
“On 29 December 2014 left the PHE screening area without reporting your true temperature to PHE staff.
“On 29 December 2014 when having your temperature taken by Dr 1, did not tell her that you had recently taken paracetamol.”
Ebola: All you need to know about the deadly virus
- Severe, highly contagious and often deadly disease
- Transmitted to people from wild animals and spreads from person to person
- Between 50 and 90 per cent of people who catch the disease end up dying
- Humans not infectious until they develop symptoms, which takes between two and 21 days after infection
- First symptoms include sudden onset of fever, tiredness, muscle pains, headache and sore throat
- Diarrhoea, vomiting, rashes, stomach pains and impaired kidney and liver function follow
- Victims begin bleeding internally, as well as from the ears, eyes, nose and/or mouth
- Between around one and two weeks after the start of symptoms, patients either begin to recover or die
- Survival rates possible to improve with early supportive car, rehydration and treatment of symptoms
The final charge reads: “Your conduct as set out in charges 1 and/or 2 above was dishonest in that: you knew your temperature was above 38 degrees.
“You intended to conceal from PHE staff that you had a temperature higher than 38 degrees.
“And in light of the above, your fitness to practise is impaired by reason of your misconduct.”
Dozens of passengers on her flight north were contacted by Health Protection Scotland, after fears an epidemic could have started in the UK.
A hearing into the allegations is due to be held in Edinburgh next month.
An NMC spokesman said: “We can confirm that the NMC case regarding allegations of misconduct against Pauline Cafferkey is ongoing.
“We are working closely with Miss Cafferkey and her representatives to ensure that we reach a resolution as quickly as possible that meets the public interest.
“As the case is ongoing, we are not able to comment further.”
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