A veterinary nurse in Ayrshire was found passed out half naked in a toilet after injecting himself with a sedative.
Robert Drummond was working as a locum veterinary nurse at Collier and Brock Vets in Irvine on September 6, 2023 where he was described by staff as "unshaven, dishevelled and unkempt".
That afternoon staff heard a loud noise coming from the toilet, and after going to investigate found Mr Drummond "on the floor, with his scrub trousers and underwear lowered to around his ankles, so that he was naked from the waist down".
He was breathing, but rigid and unresponsive and did not respond to any verbal communication. An ambulance was called. After about five minutes, Mr Drummond gradually began to regain consciousness and moved to pull his trousers and underwear up.
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As he did so, a nurse noticed a bloody syringe underneath his body. He later admitted to having injected himself with the anaesthetic alfaxalone.
He was subjected to a disciplinary hearing by the Royal College of Veterinary Nurses (RCVN) for the incident, and a previous one which he denied.
On that occasion, on August 4 2023, he was alleged to have injected himself with another sedative, lidocaine, in a car park.
While he admitted to being in possession of the drug, Mr Drummond denied having injected himself with it.
Two members of the public discovered him "slumped in the driving seat with his head hanging forward and his eyes closed" and said she had observed him injecting himself with a syringe between his thumb and forefinger on his left hand.
She told a disciplinary committee that when she spoke to Mr Drummond his eyes appeared glazed and his speech was slurred but he assured her "I'm fine I'm just having a wee sleep".
The woman and her friend informed the receptionist at the practice, who told the committee that when Mr Drummond returned he "seemed coherent and was not slurring his words" and said he had been sleeping.
He was adamant he had not injected himself with anything and was in possession of the syringe because he had used it on a dog after clipping its nails.
Mr Drummond faced disciplinary action for this and told a colleague the later incident, to which he had admitted, was because "I may as well just do what he was accused of". The committee found this response unusual.
While they did not infer from the later admission that the first accusation was necessarily accurate, it "could not ignore the coincidence and the unlikeliness" of the member of the public "having witnessed such similar behaviour".
The committee found Mr Drummond to be "less than convincing, inconsistent and thus a not entirely reliable witness".
However, no tests were carried out on the syringe so it could not prove that he had injected himself with lidocaine and the charge was thus found unproven.
On the admitted facts, aggravating factors were reckless act by taking the POM-V; risk of harm to animals in his care had he not been sent home and instead continued work having just injected himself with an anaesthetic; repeated acts of dishonesty; premeditated misconduct; and breach of legal provisions designed to safeguard human health.
Mr Drummond was found guilty of disgraceful conduct in a professional respect but the committee decided to postpone its judgment for a period of 18 months, subject to undertakings.
In that time he was allowed to continue working, while not having access to controlled substances and agreeing to other restrictions.
Speaking on his behalf a veterinary surgeon who worked with him during this time described Mr Drummond as "an exceptionally capable and dedicated veterinary nurse, one of the best nurses I have ever worked with".
In June of this year though the committee resumed the hearing after it was reported Mr Drummond had entered a controlled drugs cabinet on March 21.
He was found to have breached his undertaking, though it was not suggested he had injected himself with any substance. Mr Drummond himself intimated he wished to leave the register and did not attend the hearing or enage with the process.
He was then struck off by the committee.
Paul Morris, chairing the committee and speaking on its behalf, said: “Mr Drummond’s irresponsible approach to prescription-only medication constituted an abuse of the trust placed in him as a registered veterinary nurse and was in breach of legal provisions designed to safeguard human health.
"Since the committee could not now assess the Respondent’s future risk or his insight in his absence, it therefore decided that removal was the only proportionate sanction because any other sanction would not protect animals or the public in the future without those matters having been adequately assessed.”