Midwife who stole medication 'from the cupboard' in hospital ward is given community service

Donna Marie McGreevy (53), with an address listed as Parkmore Road in Magherafelt, was at Antrim Magistrates' Court, sitting in Ballymena, on Tuesday.She was charged with 'theft by employee' relating to early 2022. A prosecutor said police received a report of medication being stolen from the maternity ward at Antrim Area Hospital.

There were discrepancies in stock levels between November 2021 and April 2022 and medication which was unaccounted for included co-codamol, paracetamol, codeine, Diazepam and cannulas.

CCTV was implemented in a medication room in order to see why the medication was going missing and the defendant was identified. The defendant admitted taking and swallowing co-codamol "from the cupboard" without having consent to do so.

A defence lawyer said the case had been heard as a contest in January. Due to stress he said the defendant left her employment in the Health Service.

District Judge Nigel Broderick said the defendant had pleaded guilty to one charge and she was convicted of others at the contested hearing. The court heard the defendant is still a registered health worker and her "professional body" was waiting on the outcome of the court proceedings.

The judge said: "It is obviously a serious matter for any health care worker to take medication that is there designed for patients".

He said a pre-sentence report indicated the defendant did not agree with his findings at the contest. "I think, on balance, the implications for your future employment are going to be more far-reaching than the sentence I can impose. You seem to have left the Health Service but whether you intend to return may be a matter for your professional body".

He took into account her "hitherto clear record and I am minded to impose an alternative to imprisonment, namely Community Service.”