Boots pharmacy manager Timothy Charles Nash, registration number 2063208, has been suspended from the professional register for 12 months for falsely claiming for more than 600 MURs and dispensing methadone incorrectly.

Mr Nash claimed he carried out 638 MURs when he had only carried out 10, to avoid problems with his line manager, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) heard at a fitness-to-practise hearing on May 22. Mr Nash also gave out methadone at incorrect prescribing intervals to a patient for more than a year.

Mr Nash was suffering from health problems at the time of the incidents and had become "overwhelmed by his work", the GPhC heard. Although it accepted Mr Nash had shown "genuine remorse" for his actions, the regulator stressed his misconduct had continued for a sustained period and ruled to suspend him for a year.

The GPhC heard that Timothy Charles Nash, registration number 2063208, made no financial gain himself from the claims, but wanted to conceal his failure to meet his MUR targets	More fitness-to-practise cases GPhC warns locum who forgot to declare 12 driving       offences Pharmacist suspended for council housing fraud Pharmacist suspended for falsifying records to meet       Boots MUR target MORE NEWS
	Between 2009 and 2011, Mr Nash was responsible for nearly £17,000 of false claims to the NHS by reporting an extra 628 MURs at his branch in Torpoint, Cornwall. Mr Nash made no financial gain himself from the claims, but wanted to conceal his failure to meet MUR targets, the GPhC heard.

Mr Nash also failed to follow instructions on a methadone prescription, which specified the patient should receive single doses at the pharmacy every day except Sunday. Instead of giving an extra takeaway dose on Saturday, as prescribed, Mr Nash gave out two takeaway doses on Friday because the pharmacy was closed over the weekend.

Although there was no harm to the patient and Mr Nash entered the information into the controlled drugs register, the GPhC said there were "obvious potential risks" and said it was not Mr Nash's job to deviate from the prescription.

Boots dismissed Mr Nash once it discovered his misconduct. But it acknowledged he had made the extra MUR claims to avoid difficulties with his line manager and paid back the £16,984 in full. The committee specified that it made no criticism of Boots.

It stressed that Mr Nash's dishonesty had continued for a sustained period of time and involved a significant amount of money and that there had been an abuse of trust and potential harm to the patient. This would normally result in removal from the register, the committee said.

However, the GPhC concluded that there were mitigating factors. It accepted that Mr Nash was "not by nature a dishonest man" and noted that he had made full admissions at an early stage of the case. It said his illness at the time of the incidents, which was redacted from the transcript of the committee hearing, was likely to have contributed to this lack of judgment and he had shown genuine remorse for his actions.

The GPhC also concluded that Mr Nash posed no risk to the public and ruled to suspend him for 12 months with immediate effect.

Last year, a pharmacist was suspended for three months for falsifying MUR records to meet her targets at Boots. In both cases, the GPhC ruled that Boots was not to blame for the misconduct.

Read the GPhC's full ruling here

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