A REGISTERED mental health nurse has been struck off the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) register over drugs allegations spanning several years.

The NMC panel found that Daniel Mark Moore, who failed to attend the fitness to practice hearing this month, tried to obtain both prescription and recreational drugs from colleagues between January 2016 and December 2017.

Moore was found to have committed the acts while working at Maple Ward at the Bowmere Hospital on the Countess of Chester Health Park.

The facility is now a rehabilitation unit for over-18s suffering from ‘severe and enduring mental illness’, although it housed children and young people at the time of Moore’s offending.

He was also said to have stolen prescription drugs while working at another psychiatric unit.

Documents reporting on the case allege the nurse was “unfit for duty” on a number of occasions between November 2015 and January 2016 while working at the Liverpool Road unit, however the report did not specify the reasons for this.

Admitting to five of the charges, Moore blamed health conditions for his impairment, however the NMC panel found seven other charges proven, all relating to drugs and being “unfit for duty”, as well as refusing to provide a hair sample for the purpose of drug testing.

Despite NMC hearings usually being made public, Assad Badruddin, representing the nurse, requested the hearing of Moore’s case be held entirely in private as the matters are linked to his health, which was granted.

Moore was cleared of allegations relating to inappropriate behaviour towards female patients, however he was still struck off the register for his other charges, meaning he can no longer work as a nurse.