A Merseyside heart doctor who forged prescriptions to feed his painkiller addiction was today spared jail.
Martin John Royle, 44, a consultant cardiologist at St Helens and Knowsley NHS Trust, wrote out bogus prescriptions in the names of family and colleagues to steal drugs.
He was today sentenced after admitting fraud and forgery offences.
Royle, formerly of Mather Avenue, Allerton , pleaded guilty to eleven offences – two of fraud and nine of forgery and dounterfeiting.
He was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, and must pay £6,405 to cover prosecution and investigation costs
In September 2013, Royle wrote and submitted a prescription for the narcotic-like pain reliever, Tramadol, which was really for his own use, but named a colleague as the recipient without their knowledge.
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The incident was reported, and resulted in an investigation which revealed that Royle had forged at least 11 other prescriptions, using the names of colleagues and family members as the patient.
The prescriptions had been certified unwittingly by fellow medical staff.
Royle later wrote a letter of apology to the Trust admitting what he had done, citing his addiction to pain-killing drugs as one of the reasons for his behaviour.
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals leaflet “Trust in Us” featuring drug addict Dr Martin Royle who received a suspended sentence following a fraud investigation supported by NHS Protect
Pauline Smith, Anti-Fraud Specialist at NHS Protect, said today: “The NHS and its patients expect the highest standards of integrity and professionalism from its staff, and this behaviour fell well below those standards.
“Martin Royle abused his senior and respected position as a cardiologist to steal from his employer, and the seriousness of this offence is reflected in the sentence today.
“All suspicions of fraud reported to NHS Protect will be followed up, and investigated wherever appropriate”.
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/