Wexham Park Hospital nurse banned for stealing fentanyl and forging patient notes

A Wexham Park Hospital nurse has been struck off the nursing register and banned for stealing fentanyl and forging patient records to conceal her thefts.

Nearly 60 vials of fentanyl – one of the most powerful opioid drugs - went missing while Lauren Brown worked at the Slough hospital’s endoscopy unit between 2021 and 2022.

Police investigated a report over the thefts from NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust – which runs Wexham Park - but found no further action was necessary after Brown resigned in 2022.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) report released this month said Brown’s ‘repeated actions and dishonesty were significant departures from the standards expected’ of nurses.

The report said Brown had shown ‘no remorse’; had ‘not engaged’ with the NMC investigation; and posed a ‘significant risk’ of repeated behaviour.

The NMC regulates nursing and maintains a register of practising nurses in the UK – which it has now has removed Brown from.

Fentanyl is used by doctors as a powerful painkiller drug. It is around 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more than heroin.

Its use outside of medically controlled environments has also seen a spike in overdose deaths in the USA.

A spokesperson from NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust said Brown was suspended when the trust learned of the thefts.

The spokesperson said changes had been made to improve drug security at Wexham Park Hospital.

Brown’s offences took place while she worked as a nurse in the hospital’s endoscopy unit which treats patients living with stomach and intestine problems.

Brown manipulated the records of 21 patients to show they had been given fentanyl when they had not, between November 2021 and March 2022.

Brown also swapped patients’ first and last names around in an attempt to give the impression they were new patients who had been given fentanyl.

She recorded some patients were given the drug twice when they had only received one dose.

Fifty-eight vials of fentanyl went missing while Brown worked at Wexham Park Hospital.

The NMC report said Brown should be struck off the nursing register and banned as her offences were likely to have ‘seriously eroded’ trust and confidence in the profession.

It found Brown had 'on the balance of probabilities' taken fentanyl intended for patients at the hospital. 

It said - as Brown’s actions were ‘inextricably linked to the charges of theft’ – a conditions of practice order that would limit her ability to work would not be appropriate.

"It is submitted that she had been taking medication for a considerable amount of time which demonstrates serious dishonesty that is very difficult to remediate," the report said. 

"This is compounded by the fact that a degree of planning went into concealing her actions through falsified records."

‘The appropriate and proportionate sanction is that of a striking-off order,’ the report said.

An NHS Frimley Health Foundation Trust spokesperson said: “We hold our staff to the highest standards of honesty and professionalism, and we referred the case to the relevant authorities at the earliest opportunity.

“No patients were harmed and the individual was suspended from duty.

“We cooperated fully with police and the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the nurse resigned from the Trust in August 2022.

“We have since strengthened our processes for recording and checking the use of controlled drugs in our endoscopy units.”

The decision to ban Brown can be appealed.