A Lancashire nurse has been struck-off the register after failing to show insight into his actions when he was caught with a box of medicine patches in his car.  

A 12-month suspension order was originally imposed on Attila Toth by a fitness to practise committee panel in January 2023 after it was proved that on September 9 2020, Toth had been found with a box in his car which contained medicine patches prescribed to a resident of the home he worked at in Blackpool.

Toth was not entitled to these, and a misconduct hearing held by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found his actions were dishonest as he knew he was not supposed to have them in his possession. As a result, his fitness to practise was deemed impaired and he was suspended.

The original misconduct hearing was told that Toth took the medication from the home in “inappropriate circumstances” and the “patches were intended for patients and taking them could have led to a depletion in stock”.

Therefore, the NMC formed the view that if his behaviour was not addressed then it had the potential to put future patients at the risk of harm.

The nursing watchdog also noted that at the time, Toth did not engage with misconduct proceedings in a meaningful way, and did not provide a challenge to any of the allegations or evidence produced.

A report stated: “Nor has he provided any reflection that demonstrates insight into the incident and his conduct.

“He has not demonstrated that he understands that his conduct was dishonest.

“Finally, Mr Toth has not provided evidence of insight or demonstrated any remorse for his actions on September 9, 2020.

“Whilst the panel was satisfied that the misconduct in this case is capable of being addressed and remedied, it found that there was no evidence before it from Mr Toth as to whether he has taken any steps to remedy his misconduct.

“Given that Mr Toth has not meaningfully engaged with these proceedings, there is no evidence in respect of his understanding of the impact his actions would have on the public and the profession.

“There is also no evidence as to how Mr Toth would act differently if he were to be in a similar situation in the future. The panel noted that Mr Toth did, however, offer to immediately resign prior to the discovery of the drugs in his car.”

On December 18, in the first review since the suspension order was imposed, the NMC revealed that it had received no new information from Toth addressing their previous concerns.

Toth had also not engaged with the NMC since June 2022 and therefore had not provided any information about the steps he had taken to strengthen his nursing practice.

The report added: “The original panel decided that Mr Toth was liable to repeat matters of the kind found proved.

“Today’s panel has received no new information regarding Mr Toth’s insight, remorse or strengthened practice.

“In light of this, the panel decided that there is a real risk of repetition as Mr Toth remains liable to repeat matters of the kind found proved.”

The panel considered a further suspension order but because of Toth’s lack of engagement with the NMC, it was deemed inappropriate, and the only sanction that would adequately protect the public was a striking-off order.

Toth’s striking-off order will come into effect on February 2.