Nurse suspended for concealing Ebola medic Pauline Cafferkey's temperature

A nurse has been suspended for two months after concealing that a colleague had a raised temperature before she tested positive for Ebola.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel found that Donna Wood suggested a lower than actual temperature be recorded on Pauline Cafferkey's form as they passed through Heathrow Airport in December 2014 after arriving back from Sierra Leone.

That way they could get through passport control more quickly.

They next day, Ms Cafferkey was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with Ebola.

While an NMC panel could not prove Ms Wood had written the incorrect temperature on Ms Cafferkey's forms, it found that she was aware that the nurse's temperature had been measured at 38.2C and 38.3C (101F).

It said Ms Wood had suggested that 37.2C (99F) be recorded so that the group of medics could exit the "uncomfortable" and "chaotic" area more quickly.

A temperature above 37.5C (100F) required doctors' consideration in the Public Health England screening room.

Panel chairman Najrul Khasru told Ms Wood: "You put Ms Cafferkey and anyone coming into contact with her at unwarranted risk of harm."

He added that the "seriousness" of Ms Wood's "misconduct" could have "contributed to the risk of Ebola - a very serious and dangerous illness - spreading into this country".

Before becoming one of the first NHS medics to travel to West Africa, Ms Wood had been a senior sister at Haywood Hospital in Staffordshire.

She faced three charges of misconduct, and could have been struck off.

But Mr Khasru said there was a "public interest in retaining and allowing a highly-skilled and well-regarded nurse to return to practice".

He described Ms Wood's conduct as "an isolated incident in an otherwise long and unblemished career".

Ms Cafferkey was cleared at a hearing in September of allowing an incorrect temperature to be recorded.

An NMC panel found that her developing illness had impaired her judgment.

While it found three charges against her proven by admission, it said her fitness to practise had not been affected.

She tested negative for Ebola last month.

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