Charge

At a hearing held 27 - 30 November 2017, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal considered a charge laid by a Professional Conduct Committee, (PCC) against Ms Rekha Devi, (the Nurse) of Auckland.

The charge alleged that following the death of a patient, the Nurse led a group of nurses in the preparation and re-writing of notes that were false as to dates and content; that the Nurse wrote progress notes that had not previously existed; that the Nurse instructed the destruction of original patient notes and documentation; that following a meeting the Nurse participated in the preparation of a new Standing Order and initialled it knowing it was to be backdated and therefore false and did not exist prior to the patient's death; that the nurse failed to report to the employer the falsification of records by other staff members.

The hearing was fully defended by the Nurse.

Findings

The Tribunal found the charges were established (with an amendment to charge 4) and warranted disciplinary sanction.

Penalty

The Nurse was censured and her registration was cancelled.  The Nurse was ordered to pay a total of $9,300 as a contribution of the costs of the Tribunal and the PCC.