Woman sentenced for posing as a nurse in Medway

06/03/2013

A former healthcare worker has today (Wednesday 6 March) been given a suspended prison sentence, after pleading guilty to posing as a nurse in Medway.

Denice Stewart worked as a nurse at four GP surgeries in Medway, after she used the credentials of a genuine qualified nurse to get herself on the register for nurses at the Nursing and Midwifery Council. She also worked at surgeries in Essex and Wales.

At an earlier plea and case management hearing in February 2013, Stewart pleaded guilty to three charges of fraud between October and November 2007, June and November 2008 and October 2010 and February 2011. She also pleaded guilty to a total of five other charges, including obtaining pecuniary advantage by deception and theft.

She was given a 20 month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Senior Crown Prosecutor Gareth Nicholl from CPS South East said: "Stewart's deceit and manipulation continued for many years, dating back to 2006 when she first started to morph her identify into that of a real nurse's. She maintained her deception during the police investigation, producing false documents to show them that she was qualified. Stewart fraudulently put herself in a position of trust with the public in a case that affected more than 1,000 people, carrying out cervical smear tests on women and vaccinations on both children and adults. For those who were treated by her, they were deceived in the worst way possible, putting their healthcare into the hands of a woman they believed was a fully qualified nurse."