A Glasgow nurse has been struck off after making a number of medication blunders- including administering an unprescribed drug to a patient.
Gary McLellan was reported to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after a concerned colleague noticed he had been incorrectly giving medication - despite having received training and supervision on the same issue previously.
While working at Gartnavel Royal Hospital in April 2017, he was found to have given a patient an unprescribed intra-muscular injection.
A year later, he failed to breathalyse a recently admitted patient on a unit for a drug or alcohol addiction before giving them a drug used in treatment for alcohol disorder that causes an 'acute sensitivity' to alcohol.
While working at Greenfield Park Nursing Home in December 2019 he was also found to have made several failings surrounding medication, including failing to count the controlled drugs during a handover.
McLellan administered Morphine, Temazepam, and Tramadol to patients without a second checker present, as is the procedure.
He had asked a colleague to counter-sign the Medicines Administration Record despite knowing that they hadn't been present at the time.
It later transpired that the Morphine dose he had given to the patients was a second dose that he had said was given two or three hours later than he recorded.
Following the incident, the Senior Home Manager at the Home carried out an internal investigation. Mr McLellan failed to engage with the investigation and was dismissed with notice, having failed his probation and having shown no insight regarding the seriousness of the controlled drug administration errors.
The NMC panel found that his actions fell 'significantly short' of those expected of a registered nurse.
The failings were found not to be isolated but took place over a 'sustained period' and had the potential to cause 'serious harm'.
They agreed that Mr McLellan had failed to comply with the Home’s administration and medicines policy and the procedure of the controlled drug, despite having received training and supervision on the subject.
In light of the investigation, the nurse didn't provide a reflective account to indicate that he understood the impact of his actions, that he was remorseful, or that he had remedied his dishonesty.
As he failed to recognise the impact of his dishonesty, it was concluded that there was a risk of him repeating the failings.
He has now been struck off the Nursing and Midwifery Council register.
