Rip-off nurse gets away with warning

LET off... Karen Sladen. Picture by Mark Larner/Central News.

A NURSE from Shaw who ripped off her employers by siphoning off fees owed to her Oldham surgery for paternity tests has been let off with a warning.

Karen Sladen (49) instructed accountants at genetic testing outfit Cellmark to pay £25 cheques directly to her after taking blood and DNA samples from their clients between February and July, 2006, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard.

The cash, totalling £110, should have been credited to the business account of the Springfield House Medical Centre in Littlemoor.

Sladen wept as she was handed a caution order on Friday, which will remain on her record for three years.

Chairman Judith Worthington said it was a mystery as to why Sladen had stolen the cash. She was sacked after her exploits were uncovered.

Imposing a three-year caution order, Ms Worthington said Sladen was guilty of ‘deliberate dishonesty’.

She said: “We accept that the dishonesty was at the lower end of the scale, but this was dishonesty against her employer and therefore represents a breach of trust.”

But she added there was no potential for harm to patients, she did not deny her involvement from the outset, and she had ‘uttered genuine expressions of regret’.