A nurse who teamed up with a colleague in a scheme which saw them paid for non-existent shifts has been struck off.
Tracey Ann O'Callaghan was working with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) when temporary staff began experiencing issues with wages.
Bosses at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital gave O'Callaghan and a number of colleagues the power to sign off temporary workers.
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This should only have happened in 'exceptional circumstances', but O'Callaghan used her position to syphon money into her own bank account.
Her fraud was uncovered when her line manager became suspicious after her budget for temporary staff was overspent in July 2018.
An investigation was launched and the finger of blame pointed at O'Callaghan and another colleague.
Accountants looked at figures between January and July 2018 which revealed 18 shifts had been added retrospectively to the payment system by O'Callaghan and her colleague, only known as Colleague A.
The probe showed Colleague A had signed off a shift for O'Callaghan which saw her paid for a shift she did not do.
She resigned in September 2018 and police were called in.
O'Callaghan appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court and admitted gaining £1,504.88 through a fraudulent scheme between January 2018 and August 2018.
She was initially charged with pocketing £3,096.40 but prosecutors accepted her guilty plea to the lesser amount.
O'Callaghan was tagged and ordered to pay the health board £752.44 in compensation in November 2020.
Shamed O'Callaghan, who qualified as a nurse in 1999, did not attend a hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
An earlier email from O'Callaghan which said: "'I have decided to leave my job as fraud does not look right on any CV and confirm that I will voluntarily leave NMC as I do not wish to nurse again."
The disciplinary body said she had to be struck off because she had failed to show any remorse or apologise for her actions.
In a letter to the NMC, NHSGGC said the pair had engaged in 'a premeditated course of conduct to systematically defraud NHS Scotland of thousands of pounds of tax payers' money'.
In a written ruling, Paul O'Connor, chair of the NMC panel, said: "The panel was of the view that Mrs O'Callaghan has not taken any steps to remediate the charge found proved nor does she wish to practise again as a registered nurse.
"The panel is of the view that there is a high risk of repetition based on her lack of insight and no admission to her wrongdoing; stating she had only with 'great reluctance' accepted the guilty plea.
"Further, Mrs O'Callaghan had not demonstrated any remorse or given any apology for her actions.
"The panel therefore decided that a finding of impairment is necessary on the grounds of the public interest alone. "
He added: "The conduct that led to the conviction, as highlighted by the facts found proved, was a significant departure from the standards expected of a registered nurse.
"The panel noted that the serious breach of the fundamental tenets of the profession evidenced by Mrs O'Callaghan's actions is fundamentally incompatible with Mrs O'Callaghan remaining on the NMC register.
"Balancing all of these factors and after taking into account all the evidence before it during this case, the panel determined that the appropriate and proportionate sanction is that of a striking-off order."
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