Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey 'potentially put public at risk', panel told
Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey "potentially put the public at risk" through her actions as she returned to the UK with the virus, a misconduct hearing has been told.
Ebola nurse Pauline Cafferkey "potentially put the public at risk" through her actions as she returned to the UK with the virus, a misconduct hearing has been told.
A disciplinary panel also heard claims the Scottish medical worker's conduct had "undermined" public trust and confidence in the nursing profession.
The allegations were made by a lawyer for the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) on the first day of the hearing in Edinburgh.
But the nurse's legal team pointed to her "previously unblemished record" and insisted the legal threshold for a finding of misconduct against her has not been met.
Ms Cafferkey, 40, was infected with the virus while working in Sierra Leone in 2014 and returned to the UK at the end of December that year.
Accusations that she acted dishonestly during her return to Heathrow were dropped on Tuesday after after the panel ruled there was no reasonable prospect of them being proved.
She remains accused of allowing an incorrect temperature to be recorded during the screening process at the airport and of leaving the screening area at Heathrow without reporting her true temperature.
The NMC claims that "the mischief in this case is that Ms Cafferkey, realising she had an elevated temperature, allowed an incorrect temperature to be entered on her screening form and left the screening area without disclosing to anyone in authority what her true temperature was".
A high temperature is deemed to be an early sign of an infection.
Speaking to the charges, Anu Thompson, representing the NMC, said there was "no question" Ms Cafferkey had been acting for the public good in providing humanitarian assistance in Sierra Leone.
But she said the group had a responsibility to ensure it did not expose other people to risk.
"In summary, we say that Ms Cafferkey's conduct potentially put the public at risk and her conduct undermined the trust and confidence the public has in the profession."
Describing the potential risk as "significant", she asked the panel to make a finding that the nurse's fitness to practise is impaired "to protect the public and protect the public interest".
Mrs Thompson said there were significant mitigating circumstances in Ms Cafferkey's case, but told the panel: "The fact that she was suffering from the early onset of the virus cannot absolve her of all responsibility for her conduct, nor can it remove her understanding or knowledge of the disease."
Ms Cafferkey was in attendance at the hearing but did not address the panel during the session.