A SOMERSET nurse has been struck off for prescribing medicine to hospital patients more than 300 times when he was not allowed to do so.

Ian Evans worked as a consultant nurse for stroke patients at South Petherton Community Hospital.

He was accused of filling out more than 300 prescriptions for patients over a two-month period.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council has decided to strike him off, believing that allowing him to continue working as a nurse would “put the public at a continued risk of harm”.

The Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust – which runs the hospital – said there was no evidence of any harm to patients as a result of Mr Evans’ actions.

Mr Evans was accused of prescribing medication to patients when he not passed the relevant course, and as a result “failed to show the required level of integrity”.

The trust estimated that a total of 313 prescriptions had been prescribed by Mr Evans for 31 separate patients between November 2017 and January 2018.

After a new electronic prescription system was introduced, the hospital conducted an audit and demanded Mr Evans produce evidence that he was qualified.

Mr Evans claimed at the time that the university he had attended “made a mistake” and did not inform the NMC that he had passed the relevant course.

The university subsequently confirmed Mr Evans had “failed to complete the course requirements” and therefore was not qualified.

Mr Evans was not present at the NMC panel hearing in London, but said he accepted the charges against him in a letter to the Royal College of Nursing.

He admitted that his “fitness to practice is impaired”, but added: “At no time did I intend to mislead anybody or in any way be dishonest.”

The panel concluded Mr Evans “offered limited insight, remorse and remediation for his misconduct” and concluded that he should be struck off – meaning he cannot practice as a nurse again.

Mr Evans indicated in a statement to the panel that he did not wish to return to the profession.

Hayley Peters, the Somerset Partnership’s chief nurse, has welcomed the panel’s conclusion.

She said: “It is regrettable when a healthcare professional loses their registration, but we welcome the outcome of the fitness to practise hearing undertaken by the Nursing and Midwifery Council concerning this former employee.

“The concerns were escalated quickly and we began an investigation immediately. We would like to reassure people that we found no evidence that there was any harm to our patients under the care of this individual.

“We have since comprehensively reviewed our processes, including an external audit of our systems, and have made significant improvements to prevent this from happening in the future.”