Priya Acharya, a Ward Manager of an East London NHS Trust, was sacked after she was caught claiming she worked shifts that she had not. A misconduct hearing spanned the 3rd April 2023 – 11th April 2023, brought by the Nurse & Midwifery Council (NMC)
Priya Acharya’s fraud stems from her employment as a registered mental health nurse from 2015-2020. She was a Deputy Ward Manager from 2015-2018 and a Ward Manager from 2018-2020.
On 3 July 2019, the Ash Ward Band 6 Clinical Practise Lead notified the Matron that Acharya was listed on the Trust’s HealthRoster system as having worked a bank shift on Ash Ward on 2 June 2019 and 9 June 2019. On each of these occasions, he had worked on Ash Ward and had not seen her.
On July 10, 2019, the Trust’s Lead Nurse for Inpatient Services requested an initial inquiry into her activities. During the course of this investigation, Acharya acknowledged that the time entry logs may have been incorrect at times between March 2019 and June 2019. She believed that there were 12 such occurrences in total, and she proposed that these extra 12 bank shifts had been done from home and on weekends, with approval from the Trust’s Deputy Lead Nurse.
Following the preliminary investigation in July 2019, the case was referred to the Trust’s Counter Fraud team for further investigation. This inquiry began in July 2019 and ended on March 25, 2020.
“The conclusion of the Counter Fraud investigation was that you had claimed for 58 bank shifts you had not worked, and then you had authorised them using your colleagues’ unlocked computer or log in details without their knowledge.
Following the conclusion of the Counter Fraud investigation, a further disciplinary investigation was conducted by a Human Resources Consultant at the Trust between March 2020 and June 2020.
“In the course of this investigation, it was found that you had claimed a gross total of £17,100 from the Trust for bank shifts that you had not worked. This investigation culminated in a disciplinary hearing, which took place on 13 July 2020.”
Acharya was dismissed from the Trust after this disciplinary hearing with immediate effect. They decided not to prosecute if she repaid the sum of her fraud, and she did repay it in full.
In deciding further actions of misconduct, the panel concluded the following:
“It was a contrived fraud where you deliberately manufactured and manipulated bookings, in many cases after the date of the shift, which you knew you had not worked and you never intended to work. This was a serious breach of trust.
“The panel considered that your actions and dishonesty did fall seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and amounted to misconduct. In the panel’s view other members of the profession would regard your behaviour as deplorable”
The panel go on to highlight that those in the healthcare sector are entrusted with the lives of the public, and thus, must act with honesty, openness and integrity at all times, and Acharya’s calculated fraud was a significant departure from such values. They also note this would bring the profession into disrepute.
However, the panel decided that a suspension of 3 months was appropriate, and not a disbarment from practice, for the following reason:
“The panel considered that the seriousness of this case would be marked by a suspension order and that this would adequately satisfy the public confidence and public interest concerns in this case. The panel also considered that there is a public interest in not being permanently deprived of the services of a capable and competent nurse.
“Taking account of all the information before it, and of the mitigation provided, the panel concluded that it would be disproportionate to impose a striking-off order. Whilst the panel acknowledges that a suspension may have a punitive effect, it would be unduly punitive in your case to impose a striking-off order.”