A Highland paramedic who stole drugs from his own ambulance will face a misconduct hearing next week.
Colin Girvan, from Kingussie, admitted stealing laughing gas, sedatives and morphine, before forging a colleague’s signature in an attempt to cover his tracks.
He was ordered to carry out 240 hours of unpaid community work at Inverness Sheriff Court last year.
Now the 46-year-old will face a hearing in front of a Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) panel in Glasgow on Tuesday, October 20.
Girvan was given an interim suspension from working as a paramedic in May this year by the watchdog’s conduct and competence committee.
The panel next week will consider whether he is fit to practice.
He faces an allegation relating to the charges he pleaded guilty to in court.
He admitted taking morphine, Diazemuls and Entenox – a form of anesthetic “laughing gas” – from the safe in his vehicle and an ambulance base while living and working in Kingussie between October 29 and December 6, 2013.
The HCPC further allege that between November 5, 2012 and December 2, 2013 he falsely claimed to have administered morphine sulphate to patients on approximately 20 occasions.
It is claimed that he incorrectly registered the use of morphine in the ambulance’s records to cover vials he had taken, and then falsified the signatures of three colleagues approximately 26 times.
He is also alleged to have self-administered drugs in front of patients in the back of an ambulance between December 5 and 6.
Last year the court heard that on at least one occasion the 45-year-old appeared to have taken painkillers when he was on duty and was unsteady on his feet.
His workmate became suspicious when Girvan arrived at his house and asked for a syringe to give medicine to his dog.
When the technician checked the ambulance, he found drugs were missing and a day later he reported his colleague after finding canisters of painkilling gas in his personal bag.
Girvan, who had a 25-year career in the ambulance service, was spared a prison term despite Sheriff Margaret Neilson describing his crimes as “a gross breach of trust”.
Solicitor Willie Young said Girvan “chose to self-medicate” after the break-up of his six-year marriage in an attempt to manage depression and social isolation.
Girvan no longer lives in Kingussie and has moved to an address in Cumnock, East Ayrshire.