'A risk to the public': The Blackpool nurse who forged colleagues' signatures on morphine logs

Glenroyd Care Home, Blackpool
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


A nurse who forged signatures to access controlled drugs more quickly has been suspended from practice.

Raniel Cang worked at the Glenroyd Care Home, run by Barchester Healthcare, when he breached procedures to access morphine from the medicine cupboard at the home. Between November 2022 and February 2023, Cang administered morphine to residents without being witnessed by another nurse. He also forged the signatures of three colleagues, to make it appear they had acted as witnesses when they had not and took medication from the cabinet for more than one resident at a time.

After being handed an interim order which banned him from practicing as a nurse, Cang went on to work as a nurse at Dovehaven care home, but did not fully disclose the details of his suspension.

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The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found Cang's dishonesty so concerning he was banned from practicing as a nurse for six months. On February 2, 2023, Glenroyd's care home manager carried out a routine check and discovered medication administered by Cang had not been correctly recorded on resident's Medication Administration Record (MAR) charts.

The police and safeguarding were informed and a Care Quality Commission (CQC) notification was completed. Cang was suspended and a fact finding investigation was launched. During an interview on February 28, the nurse admitted he had forged colleagues signatures on medication records for around two of three months. He claimed he did not have sufficient time to complete his medication rounds and forged signatures to make the job quicker.

The investigation also found Cang had dispensed medication incorrectly in November 2022 and had completed a medication competency program in January 2023 as a result.

Cang told the panel he was "sincerely sorry" for his actions and deeply regretting his past actions and the trust he violated. He said he complied with the interim conditions of practice order made on February 3 but had failed to formally notify his employer, Florence agency. When his PIN remained active, he went on to work as a nurse at Dovehaven care home. He told the panel he found it difficult to find a care home to work in due to visa conditions, but Dovehaven had offered to sponsor his visa and accommodate the conditions.

However on July 27, Cang arrived at work to be told his shift had been cancelled and Florence agency had reported he had breached the conditions of his interim order to the NMC. The interim conditions of prctice order was upgraded to an interim suspension order the same day.

Since the suspension order was made, Cang said he has taken steps to comply and has been working at a lower grade as a healthcare assistant at New Thursby Care Home, operated by Centurian Healthcare. He said he has followed all patient care policies diligently and kept up to date with mandatory training.

He said he has learned his lesson and attended a seminar on probity and ethics which helped him understand his past behaviour and the consequences. If he found himself on a busy shift in future he would utilise colleagues and ensure tasks were delegated as medication safety should take priority.

He added that the worst part of his actions was that having started to forge signatures he had continued to do so for a period of two or three months, with no remorse, as his only concern was complketing his workload for the day. He was not aware of the impact of his dishonesty on patients and public trust at the time, he said.

The NMC report stated: "Nurses occupy a position of privilege and trust in society and are expected at all times to be professional. Patients and their families must be able to trust nurses with their lives and the lives of their loved ones. To justify that trust, nurses must be honest and open and act with integrity. They must make sure that their conduct at all times justifies both their patients’ and the public’s trust in the profession."

Ilana Hirschberg, representing the NMC, said: "A nurse without the proper appreciation for the rules in place to protect patients, a nurse with a propensity to be dishonest is a risk to the public."

The panel found Cang's actions fell seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and amounted to misconduct. His misconduct put patients at risk and undermined the public's confidence in the nursing profession, they concluded. They made a suspension order banning Cang from working as a nurse for six months.

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