A nurse who got a job at Darent Valley Hospital’s intensive care unit, despite previously blasting off part of a man's arm with a shotgun, has been struck off for failing to disclose his convictions.
Mark Wood's criminal history was only discovered by managers of the Dartford hospital when the 39-year-old was found in a changing room of TK Maxx in Prospect Place with his trousers around his ankles.
He was found unconscious and semi-naked, surrounded by needles with three wraps of heroin, diazepam and propofol.
Darent Valley Hospital
After being arrested he called the intensive treatment unit at Darent Valley, where he worked, and lied to staff, telling them he had been involved in an accident but “was not injured”.
He was, in fact, in police custody.
The next day he turned up for work as normal.
Wood appeared before North Kent Magistrates' Court for the drug offences on August 7 last year.
He denied possessing a Class A and a Class C drug and possessing criminal property.
The father-of-one was found guilty of the charges and fined £330, made to pay costs of £650 and a victim surcharge of £20.
Following a two-day hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in Stratford over May 5 and 6, a panel struck off Wood.
The hospital in Darenth Wood Road
During the tribunal, it emerged that Wood had been convicted of possession of a shotgun with the intent to endanger life at Maidstone Crown Court in 1996.
He was sentenced to eight years in a young offenders institution.
The panel heard he had approached a group of youths outside a pub with a 12-bore shotgun.
During the dispute he wounded a man so badly that part of his right arm had to be amputated.
He was also convicted of possession of a shotgun with intent to cause fear of violence and causing GBH with intent.
The former Dartford resident did not disclose this information to the NMC or his employer.
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Striking him off, NMC panel chairman Paul Morris said: “The panel considered that Mr Wood's actions were such significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse.
“They were so serious in nature, that they were fundamentally incompatible with him remaining on the register.
“The panel was of the view that members of the public would be concerned that at a nurse with such serious criminal convictions, compounded by dishonesty to conceal his involvement with the criminal justice system from his employer, was practising as a nurse.
“That was all the more so given the potential health issues underlying the offending.
“Mr Wood showed a disregard for the risk of harm to patients.
“The panel had no information before it to indicate that Mr Wood had declared anything to the trust or Occupational Health in relation to his potential health issues, or that he had taken any steps to address or remedy those issues since these events.”
Wood, who is currently unemployed, now has 28 days to appeal against the decision.
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