A nurse who lied about taking a patient’s vital blood sugar readings and then falsifying records to cover his tracks has been struck off.
Darren Scott Diplexcito placed the patient at “direct and serious risk of harm” by failing to take the four hourly readings while working at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley.
Diplexcito was said to have “deliberately misled and compromised his colleagues” when he “falsified” the patient’s medical chart by entering fake readings.
The nurse claimed he had carried out the readings but two charges relating to the incident in 2018 were found to be proved by a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) disciplinary panel last week.
The NMC panel said Diplexcito had “acted dishonestly” and his misconduct was described as “serious [and] abhorrent’ which would be “considered deplorable by members of the profession and the public”.
Diplexcito was previously suspended from the nursing profession for nine months after he lied to a family that their relative was still alive despite the man dying hours before.
The devious nurse informed the family by phone that the man was “unsettled” after he had died at an unnamed hospital in the NHS Tayside area in 2012.
Diplexcito has now been removed from the nursing register following the NMC disciplinary hearing held virtually last week.
The panel heard evidence from one colleague who said it was “unlikely” the blood sugar readings had been taken as the patient had been asleep and the procedure involved “lancing” a finger.
A second colleague said all blood sugar readings were taken using an electronic tool and the results are automatically recorded on a central archive system.
The nurse said no information had ever been recorded on the system relating to Diplexcito taking the readings at the times he said he did.
In a written reply to the allegations, Diplexcito said: “I have continually remained steadfast in my response with regards to these charges and am more than aware of the blood glucose monitoring system and how the audit trail and recording of results to a central database takes place, so why would I falsely chart these recordings.”
The NMC decision stated: “The panel determined that Mr Diplexcito’s actions fell significantly short of the standards expected of a registered nurse.
“It was of the view that Mr Diplexcito’s misconduct was serious, abhorrent and would be considered deplorable by members of the profession and the public.
“The panel considered that due to Mr Diplexcito’s failure to conduct the blood sugar checks and falsification of the blood sugar readings, Patient B had been left unchecked overnight, putting Patient B at real risk of serious harm.
“Patient B was particularly vulnerable being on a ward that was one step down from high dependency he needed close and frequent monitoring.
“He was additionally vulnerable overnight when sleeping.
“The panel was of the view that Mr Diplexcito showed a callous disregard for a vulnerable patient’s wellbeing.”
The NMC panel also found a further four charges relating to Diplexcito failing to carry out scans and readings to be not proven.
Diplexcito was suspended by the NMC for nine months in 2014 after he told the family of a seriously ill patient the man was still alive despite knowing he died hours before.
The nurse then informed the family who had arrived at the hospital that their relative had died just five minutes earlier.
