SCOTTISH Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey is facing disciplinary action over allegations she concealed her temperature during checks on her return to the UK.
The medical worker, hailed as a hero for her work in the Ebola treatment units of Sierra Leone, could be struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council if the charges are proved against her.
Cafferkey, 40, who was infected with the deadly virus while working in Sierra Leone in 2014, is alleged to have given dishonest answers to medical staff during screening at Heathrow on her return.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council, which has been investigating Cafferkey’s conduct, alleges she “allowed an incorrect temperature to be recorded” on December 29, 2014 and “intended to conceal from Public Health England staff you had a temperature higher than 38C”.
Registered nurse Cafferkey travelled to Sierra Leone at the height of the Ebola crisis to help the sick.
She returned to London and then travelled on to Scotland before being diagnosed, and spent almost a month being treated in an isolation unit at London’s Royal Free Hospital.
The volunteer recovered but was readmitted to hospital twice after suffering complications linked to the disease, and at one stage fell critically ill.
The NMC alleges she did not tell Public Health England (PHE) screening staff she had recently taken paracetamol and left the area without reporting her true temperature.
A hearing on Cafferkey’s fitness to practise is set to take place in Edinburgh next month.
The NMC has the power to strike workers off the professional register.
A spokesman for the NMC said it had been working closely with Cafferkey and her representatives to reach an outcome “that is fair and meets the public interest”.
He added: “Since the NMC’s case examiners considered the allegations and drafted charges, we have received further evidence. The final charges the panel will consider will be determined in light of this new material. A process of ongoing review is part of our normal practice in all cases.
“Ms Cafferkey and her representatives have cooperated fully throughout this process. Currently we are working towards scheduling the case for a panel to consider on September 13.”
It is believed the NMC are accusing her of of trying to conceal her temperature was over 38 degrees during a screening.
Cafferkey is also accused of not telling medical staff she had taken paracetamol, which can treat pain and fever.
The incidents are alleged to have happened when she returned to the UK in December 2014 before she headed back to her home in Cambuslang.
Cafferkey was originally infected in December 2014 while in Sierra Leone but recovered after a pioneering blood transfusion.
She was taken back into hospital with meningitis triggered by Ebola in October last year but again Pauline recovered.
She was admitted to hospital for a third time in February this year.
A volunteer who travelled to West Africa to help with the Ebola outbreak could not believe she faced being struck off after all she went through.
He said: “I cannot get my head round why one group of medical professionals – PHE – demand such an investigation over another group of medical professionals when they themselves had so many failings.”
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