A Merseyside heart doctor who forged prescriptions to feed his painkiller addiction was dismissed from his job.
Martin John Royle, 44, who was yesterday handed a suspended jail sentence, wrote out bogus prescriptions in the names of family and colleagues to steal drugs.
It today emerged that Royle, who was a consultant cardiologist at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, no longer works there.
A spokesman said his employment was “terminated following suspension” in 2013.
It is understood Royle, formerly of Mather Avenue, Allerton , most recently worked as a private consultant.
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.
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.
St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals leaflet “Trust in Us” featuring drug addict Dr Martin Royle.
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.
He pleaded guilty to eleven offences – two of fraud and nine of forgery and counterfeiting – and was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.
He was told to pay £6,405 to cover prosecution and investigation costs.
Pauline Smith, Anti-Fraud Specialist at NHS Protect, said: “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.”
Source: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/