Today, Nurse Independent Prescriber Nichola Hawes was sentenced in Downpatrick Crown Court after pleading guilty to a number of breaches of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, and one count of fraud. His Honour Judge Miller KC passed a sentence of £8,000 in fines.
Michael Madden of Madden & Finucane said:
“The prosecution of Nurse Independent Prescriber Nichola Hawes highlights a major gap in the current legal and regulatory framework governing independent nursing practice in Northern Ireland, England, and Wales.
“Nurse Independent Prescribers are authorised to prescribe any prescription-only medicine (POM) and yet, they are prohibited from holding even a single licensed POM, including life-saving emergency drugs, as stock in their clinics. This exposes nurses to the prospect of being criminalised for holding stock medicine, even where no harm has occurred. In Scotland, by contrast, nurses working from registered premises are permitted to hold stock medicines under a proper legal framework.
“This case did not involve any allegation whatsoever of harm being caused to patients.
“These offences occurred during the difficult post-COVID period, when independent nurse prescribers faced unprecedented medicine shortages and surging patient demand.
“Nurse Hawes continues to receive strong support from colleagues, patients, and professional bodies. The court heard from senior clinicians who praised her excellence in care and noted the disparity between Northern Ireland and Scotland’s more progressive approach.
“She supports the British Association of Medical Aesthetic Nurses (BAMAN) in its campaign for urgent government review of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012, to remove the restrictions on stock medicines in nurse-led clinics and recognise the vital role of independent nurse prescribers in patient care.”
