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An agency nurse at Royal Preston Hospital had to repay £2,800 after taking money for shifts she never worked.
Denise Balanza submitted falsified timesheets while working at the hospital through Medical Staffing Ltd. In total, she took money for 10 shifts supposedly between June and October 2022.
The scam was uncovered by the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which runs the Royal Preston. As a result, she was referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council to face misconduct claims and she has now been struck off.
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Ms Balanza did not attend the hearing or send representation on her behalf. However, in email correspondence she accepted that the time sheets she submitted were inaccurate, adding, “I might have done it several times”.
In an email dated one day after the last falsified shift, she said: ““I am extremely sorry and I totally regret doing what I did. I shouldn’t have done it in the first place and I should have been honest with it.”
In deciding whether her actions amounted to misconduct, the panel concluded: “The panel appreciated that breaches of the Code do not automatically result in a finding of misconduct.
“However, the panel noted that each timesheet requires a signed written declaration of accuracy and carries a warning about actions that would be taken in the event of fraud, yet Ms Balanza still went ahead and on 10 separate occasions submitted falsified timesheets containing forged signatures and signed declarations of accuracy.”
The panel considered that two reflective statements submitted by Ms Balanza showed insight into her wrongdoing but also noted that she had ended any correspondence since March 2024 and they could therefore not be confident on any behavioural change in future.
Concluding a striking off was necessary, they wrote: “Having regard to the effect of Ms Balanza’s actions in bringing the profession into disrepute by adversely affecting the public’s view of how a registered nurse should conduct herself, the panel has concluded that nothing short of this would be sufficient in this case.
“The panel considered that this order was necessary to protect the public and to mark the importance of maintaining public confidence in the profession, and to send to the public and the profession a clear message about the standard of behaviour required of a registered nurse.”
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