A Moray midwife accused of misconduct by NHS Grampian has spoken of her two-year fight to clear her name after being accused of wrongdoing by nursing chiefs.
Lynne Ritchie, 46, a NHS midwife for more than two decades, has spent the last 17 years delivering babies at Dr Gray’s Hospital in Elgin.
She was suspended in May 2013 after going against guidelines and using equipment while not being fully qualified to do so.
Mrs Ritchie was taken to an eight-day hearing to answer the allegations against her, despite no mother or baby being harmed by her actions.
Mrs Ritchie, of Elgin, has now been exonerated on all charges by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) with the regulator ruling on Thursday that she acted in the best interests of her patients.
Last night, she spoke of her “profound disappointment” at the NHS bosses who raised the claims against her against her.
She said: “I have been emotionally and physically exhausted by this, the case has threatened my integrity as a midwife and caused great psychological and financial stress to myself and my family.
Moray MSP Richard Lochhead took up Mrs Ritchie’s case and said the investigation into her working practices had been “excessively heavy-handed, tortuous and lengthy.”