Nurse who lied to care for babies is struck off

A woman who lied about her qualifications to get a job as a senior nurse caring for sick and premature babies has been banned from the profession.

Tanya Nasir, 45, from Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, became ward manager on the neonatal unit at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend in 2019, after she lied about being a highly qualified neonatal nurse and an Army combat medic.

She was found guilty on nine counts of fraud and false representation and jailed for five years in October 2024.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) committee concluded Nasir's actions would put vulnerable patients at "a real risk of significant harm, which could have had catastrophic consequences".

Nasir spent four months in the role before she was suspended, after it emerged the qualification date on her nursing registration did not match up with her application form.

She had faked her reference for the post using an NHS email account of a nurse she had previously worked with in London.

An investigation by the hospital unravelled a deeper web of lies, as Nasir lied about working across the globe doing military and humanitarian work with charities including Oxfam and the Red Cross.

The mother-of-two also lied about having experience in intensive care, A&E medicine and children's palliative care.

Nasir, who did not attend the NMC fitness to practise hearing on 23 May, had shown "no evidence of insight or remorse for her actions" said NMC representative Naa-Adjeley Barnor.

Ms Barnor said Nasir was previously convicted for fraudulently claiming welfare benefits in 2010, and there was a "significant risk" that Nasir would repeat such behaviour in the future.

The panel also considered that Nasir took steps to cover up the fraud when she realised it was being discovered.

They said Nasir's actions had been "sophisticated and planned" which represented "deep seated attitudinal issues".

As a result, Ms Barnor said the only appropriate and proportionate sanction would be a striking-off order.