A north-east nurse who was accused of carrying out unauthorised operations has been cleared by health bosses of any wrongdoing.
Margaret Thomson reportedly carried out procedures on five patients without getting permission from doctors where she worked at the Mintlaw GP surgery.
She was accused of ignoring the threat of infection by cutting a lump off a patient’s finger without permission, and removing dead skin from a diabetic patient’s foot which could have resulted in the loss of a toe.
The nurse, who has since resigned, admitted she had failed to consult a doctor before trimming a patient’s toenail, but denied all other charges against her.
A Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing into the 13 allegations against Ms Thomson, which date from October 2010 to September 2011, found only one could be proved and said there was no case of misconduct.
In the decision document, the hearing panel stated: “The panel considered that this was an isolated incident in a lengthy career and determined, taking everything into account, that it was not sufficiently serious to warrant a finding of misconduct.”
Ms Thomson’s case was first heard in June but proceedings were delayed because a key witness was unavailable.
The hearing resumed in Edinburgh at the beginning of the week and the panel were “impressed” by Ms Thomson’s evidence given over two days. The panel ruled that the charges against Ms Thomson in relation to cutting a patient’s toenail on August 29, 2011, were not proved because she was capable of performing the procedure and would not normally need to seek permission from a doctor.
A doctor at the surgery had not recorded in the patient’s notes that the toenail should not be touched by anyone else and the panel took the view that, if Ms Thomson had failed to carry out the treatment, she would not have been acting in the best interests of the patient.
The charge in relation to Ms Thomson’s failure to consult a doctor before cutting the nail was found proved because of her admission.
Neither Ms Thomson nor Mintlaw GP surgery could be contacted for comment last night.