A nurse who worked in a private cosmetic clinic while on her sick leave allowance from the UK National Health Service was faced with possible suspension from medical activities due to fraud.
Background
Amanda Takwell, 45 years old, went on sick leave, and at this time began to offer a number of cosmetic procedures to private clients.
She was able to quickly earn a lot of money on skin care services at her Aluminate Skin Clinic, setting a price tag of £ 210 for Botox and £ 250 for filling her jaw.
Tuckwell spent three months on sick leave at her main job with a salary of £ 34,000 a year, while at home she provided services to 15 private clients.
On the fact of three anonymous appeals to the Anti-Fraud Office of the National Health Service of Great Britain that she works in her clinic, a check was carried out against her.
As a result, Tuckwell, a nurse at the Aluminate Skin Clinic since 2009, admitted that she does work privately, but denies being dishonest.
Tuckwell Progress
Debbie Hill, Chairperson of the Disciplinary Commission of the Council of Nursing and Midwives, replied to her: “When you first went on sick leave, you said you didn’t think it would last for such a long period of time, due to the specifics of your illness. You told the commission that at that time, you didn’t regard the provision of skincare services to private clients as work, since most of them were your friends and you treated at home. You also claimed that you could not do your main job, since your role in very exhausting and the work shifts were 12 hours each, which is many times more intense than the work that you did in your private clinic. "
Tuckwell provided services to 15 clients while she was ill, however, she claims that she did not work on this.
She told the AGR disciplinary commission that she provided treatment only to clients who lent her money, which she could not afford to repay.
But later, Tuckwell admitted that she could repay her debts, which reached up to £ 100, from sick leave payments.
Disciplinary Commission Decision
As a result, at a hearing about misconduct in Cardiff, the commission found the nurse guilty of cheating.
They added: “The Disciplinary Commission believes that as an experienced nurse, you should have studied the ethical aspects of your misconduct and discussed it with management. The commission took into account the fact that you experienced severe stress during your illness, and this, as you say , was the reason why you did not familiarize yourself with the rules for applying for a sick leave certificate, and we did not accept this excuse as significant, since it is reliably known that you were able to provide skin care services and manage your own business ECOM. "
The commission decided that Tuckwell had no intention of deceiving, however, the "persistent" treatment of private clients for three months was recognized as a fraud.
The Disciplinary Commission stated that “it is impossible to conclude that there is the possibility of an innocent error or oversight” by Tuckwell.
The nurse will find out if she will be removed at the next hearing in August.
Conclusions from the situation
Thus, Amanda deliberately deceived her employer in order to start her own business, or simply turned out to be a victim of inaccurate and vague wording in the law, she is now convicted of fraud and she has to go through hearing procedures in order to defend her right to work in the field medical services, because otherwise the girl will have to look for a new job and even get another education. Perhaps this would not have happened had she been more attentive to the legal and ethical aspects of her decisions.
The public reacted differently to the situation: someone with irony offers not to dismiss her, but leave them on benefits from the National Health Service, and someone regrets what happened and supports Amanda, knowing her as an excellent specialist in his field, some consider that state bodies should better clarify language incomprehensible to ordinary citizens in rules and laws and increase the general level of legal literacy of the population.