Nurse took fees for DNA testing

A “dishonest” nurse pocketed fees which her Oldham surgery was owed for carrying out paternity tests, a tribunal heard.

Karen Sladen (49) instructed accountants at genetic testing firm Cellmark to pay £25 cheques directly to her after taking blood and DNA samples from their clients, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard yesterday.

The money, totalling £110, should have been credited to the business account of the Springfield House Medical Centre, Huddersfield Road, Littlemoor, which had an agreement with Cellmark to carry out the checks.

Sladen, who had worked at the practice since 1997, also convinced a firm of solicitors to write her a £70 cheque for a DNA swab test but was caught before it could be cashed.

The panel heard that many of the tests, which took place between February and July, 2006, were being conducted on behalf of the Department of Work and Pensions and the Child Support Agency.

Elizabeth Nicholls, defending, said Sladen had been going through a divorce and had struggled to cope with the recent death of her brother and diagnosis of her mother with breast cancer.

Sladen, originally from Shaw but who now lives in Stoke-on-Trent, admits receiving the cheques without the permission of the surgery and acting dishonestly but denies that her fitness to practise is impaired.

Hannah Fellows, for the NMC, said: “Mrs Sladen was not authorised to receive those cheques that had been made payable to her, and indeed none of the doctors ever authorised cheques to be made directly to her.

“Members of the public must be able to trust practitioners with their health and well-being, and also that goes to matters that aren’t directly related to clinical practice.”

The panel will now rule on whether her fitness to practise is impaired.