Nurse suspended after claiming over $200K in benefits from MSD

A nurse has pleaded guilty to 20 charges under the Crimes Act for claiming over $200,000 in benefits over a 20-year period.

In a decision released last week involving a court hearing in March last year, the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal (the Tribunal) considered a conviction charge laid by a Professional Conduct Committee (PCC) against an enrolled nurse, whose name and DHB she worked for has been suppressed.

According to the decision, the sum the nurse collected over a period of years amounted to $208,945.29. The nurse was in receipt of a domestic purposes benefit for nearly 20 years and over that time signed various declarations that her circumstances had not changed and applications for supplementary benefits.

As a result of an Inland Revenue match, it was found that the practitioner had been in employment with Healthcare NZ from 1 September 2007 and NZ Nursing from 6 October 2015 and had not informed MSD of these changes in her circumstances.

MSD also noted that the practitioner had listed a partner on her Healthcare NZ employment details. As a result of further inquiries it was established that the practitioner had been living in a relationship in the nature of marriage since 2 October 2008.

There was also a failure to declare her income from her employers. The nurse was not eligible for any other rate of benefit and/or financial assistance as her relationship then disqualified her from payments due to their household income.

In the Christchurch District Court, the nurse was unsuccessful in her application for a discharge without conviction, but no sentence was imposed. She was granted permanent name suppression.

“There is no question that the 20 convictions for 'benefit fraud' culminating in a debt of over $200,000 to the Ministry of Social Development are convictions which reflect adversely on this practitioner’s fitness to practise. The charge is therefore upheld,” the court document said.

“The practitioner acknowledged the seriousness of the convictions and expressed her regret. She noted that she had pleaded guilty to the offences at an early stage and cooperated with MSD. She has also cooperated with the PCC and engaged constructively in the Tribunal process.

“She self-reported the convictions to the Nursing Council and took steps to self-report it to her employer once she had received legal advice that she could do so."

The practitioner explained that she had been on a benefit since the early 90s and that she was motivated to get off the benefit and go back to the community.

She decided to train as a nurse, and qualified as an enrolled nurse, having completed a diploma in enrolled nursing in July 2015. She started working as a healthcare assistant in around 2008.

“She was earning little and in casual employment. She thought she was allowed to work, but over time the work got longer and she acknowledged she should have told the Ministry,” the document said.

The nurse admitted the charge and accepted that the convictions reflected adversely on her fitness to practise and that a disciplinary sanction be ordered.

The Tribunal was satisfied that the conduct leading to the convictions was unacceptable and that a penalty was appropriate.

The Tribunal did acknowledge the offending occurred when the nurse’s family was undergoing significant trauma, it occurred outside her practice as a nurse and a large part of the offending occurred before she became a nurse. The Tribunal noted that her practice as a nurse has not raised any concerns.

The Tribunal ordered that the nurse: