A Reading nurse has been struck off for fraudulently claiming shifts he didn't work.

The former senior nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital’s intensive care unit, Ruaidhri Cantillon, was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in June for his dishonest actions.

In February 2023, Cantillon's line manager discovered his fraudulent claims for nine previous shifts.

The former nurse admitted to using a colleague’s login details to authorise these shifts without their knowledge or permission.

An NMC panel also heard that Cantillon had increased the pay banding for these unworked shifts, inadvertently putting patients at risk through his "fraudulent actions."

Cantillon is one of many struck off this year as the number of nurses and midwives removed from the profession for misconduct has nearly doubled in the last two years.

A new investigation by Medical Negligence Assist, using Freedom of Information requests, revealed a 96 per cent increase in dismissals since 2021.

A total of 109 nurses and midwives were struck off between 2021/22, soaring to 191 the following year.

In the last year, 2023/24, a total of 214 have been removed from the profession due to fitness to practise decisions, according to the NMC.

Of those, 210 were nurses and four were midwives.

The majority of the reasons were related to errors or neglect involving patient care.

However, other proven allegations included dishonesty, violent behaviour, and sexual offences.

Medical Negligence Assist’s investigation into misconduct reveals that of the 979 proven allegations for nurses and midwives being struck off in the last year, 126 pertained to dishonesty.

This included concerning allegations of collusion to cover up information, sleeping on duty, and working elsewhere in breach of contract.

In 2023/24, the majority of nurses and midwives struck off were for issues surrounding patient care, of which there were 176 proven allegations.

These included 36 instances of inappropriate or delayed responses to negative signs, deterioration, or incidents and a further 33 wrongdoings involving diagnosis observation and assessment of a patient.

Not abiding by safeguarding requirements, hydration and nutrition issues and hygiene and infection control were also cited as reasons for dismissal.

Prescribing and Medicines Management was the second most common reason nurses have been sacked in the last year.

This included 25 counts of not administering or refusing to administer medication as well as 23 instances of inappropriate storage, transportation, preparation or disposal of medication.

There were also 9 proven allegations of theft or misappropriation of drugs from the workplace.

Issues pertaining to behaviour or violence were also cited by the NMC in their decisions for suspensions including, bullying, intimidation or harassment as well as discrimination and verbal abuse.

Worryingly, there were 10 proven allegations of sexual offences in the last year including; adult sexual assault, child sexual assault and possession of indecent images of children.

In Midwifery, there were four members of staff struck off in 2023/24.

The NMC cited two proven allegations of failing to escalate or respond appropriately to deterioration of woman or baby.

Another reason for dismissal was a lack of basic midwifery skills, competencies and knowledge while another involved issues with monitoring, observing or assessing woman or baby.

Despite headlines of dwindling NHS staff numbers, the number of nurses and midwives on the official register has risen steadily each year since 2021 with staff levels 9 per cent higher this year.

Medical Negligence Assist offers specialist advice and support regarding nursing or midwifery negligence.

Royal Berkshire Hospital has been contacted