Nurse deliberately doorstepped dying patients to tout her own business

Swaran Chall accessed confidential medical records and then used the information to approach patients and promote her new company.

Chall, who was on sick leave at the time, doorstepped the seriously and terminally ill, cold-called them and delivered advertising leaflets to their homes.

The community staff nurse visited the home of one West Bromwich couple twice trying to sell her wares. The wife got so upset, she reported her to the District Nurse Leader.

Chall, aged 63, approached a total of seven vulnerable people in her promotion of Wisteria Home Care, which operates from a house in Lavender Close, Walsall.

This week, a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel decided her fitness to practise was currently impaired and issued a five-year caution order, stopping short of any suspension from the register.

The misconduct panel heard that Chall had been employed by Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust since August 1999 as a community staff nurse in West Bromwich.

While on sick leave in July 2013, she accessed the clinical records of patients who were unrelated to her current work but had formerly been in her care.

She then visited their homes, telephoned them and sent them adverts.

This happened around the same time Wisteria Home Care was registered with the Care Quality Commission and Chall listed as the registered manager.

The nurse admitted the allegations during the course of an internal investigation and was dismissed on grounds of gross misconduct at a disciplinary hearing in February 2014.

NMC panel chair, Gill Madden told her: "The panel was satisfied that none of your actions were driven by any intention to put patients at risk of harm, however your behaviour was deliberate, systematic and contrary to fundamental expectations of a registered nurse.

"You took these actions for the advancement of your business venture. In doing so you lacked integrity, had scant regard to patient confidentiality, and sought to take advantage of your privileged position as a nurse for your own business purposes.

"Your behaviour was a clear failure of your duty put patients first and to uphold the reputation of your profession at all times."

During her oral evidence, Chall said the reason she had contacted the patients was to alert them in advance of sending advertising leaflets so patients would know they related to her business.

She added she had failed to appreciate that in accessing patients' confidential records she had done anything wrong, despite attending an Information Governance Training course only a few months prior to the incidents.