A NURSE formerly based at a Somerset hospital has been struck off after allowing a child to leave the ward without informing social services.

Fiona Sarah Diba, an agency nurse from Wolverhampton, was briefly posted as a children’s nurse at Yeovil Hospital back in December 2016.

During this time she allowed a child to leave the children’s ward with its parents, in breach of a protection plan put in place by social services.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has now ruled she can no longer practice as a nurse – a decision which has been welcomed by the hospital trust.

The NMC’s fitness to practice committee convened on July 23 to decide whether an existing suspension order against Miss Diba should be made permanent.

At a previous hearing, the following allegations against Miss Diba were proved:

  • That she failed to conduct or record any observations on a patient from 2pm onwards on December 12, 2016
  • That she failed to record pain relief medication given to a different patient on the same date
  • That she allowed Child A to leave the ward with her parents on December 14, in contravention of social services’ orders and without a handover from a colleague

The panel heard that Miss Diba had last attendance a hearing of her case in person in September 2019, and had last responded to attempts to contact her in September 2020.

Miss Diba stated in 2020 that she had been “having personal issues”, adding: “I have no intention to return to nursing practice, and have chosen to pursue a different career pathway.”

The panel concluded that it was “necessary to take action to prevent Miss Diba from practising in the future”, adding that striking her off the nursing register was the only way to “adequately protect the public and serve the public interest”.

Yeovil Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has welcomed the panel’s decision and said that Miss Diba’s actions had not put any patients in danger.

A spokeswoman said: “Miss Diba was an agency nurse, not an employee, who worked a small number of shifts at our hospital more than four years ago before concerns were raised.

“The safety of our patients is paramount and, where our high standards of care are not maintained, we will always act quickly, as happened on this occasion.

“We are satisfied that the NMC has supported our findings.”