A veterinary nurse has been suspended for nine months for creating prescriptions dishonestly and presenting one at a pharmacy fraudulently.

The case against Kellie Price, who was working for Companion Care Services at Pets at Home in Ashford, Kent, at the time, was heard by a Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons disciplinary committee.

Miss Price, who did not attend the hearing and was not represented, accepted the allegation of serious professional misconduct against her.

The committee heard that on January 6, 2013 ‘dishonestly created’ a prescription for two inhalers which had been written and signed in the name of locum vet Cristiana Tudini without her knowledge or consent. It was presented subsequently to a pharmacy for dispensing.

In March the same year Miss Price dishonestly created three more prescriptions – one of which was written in the name of her colleague, vet Cormac Higgins, and two in Ms Tudini’s name without either’s knowledge or consent.

All four had been made out for Miss Price’s Jack Russell.

Mr Higgins asked Miss Price for an explanation and suspended her from her position pending further investigation. But before this could take place she resigned. The allegations were then reported to both the Royal College and the police, the latter giving Miss Price a formal caution in respect of the false prescription made in January.

The committee said it took into account aggravating and mitigating factors when considering its course of action. It accepted Miss Price’s explanation that in the early hours of January 6, 2013 she had suffered an asthma attack and that she had created the false prescription at work in a panic after realising her inhaler was empty, fearing another attack. The Committee also took into account Mr Higgins’ description of her as a ‘great nurse’ who was good with patients and clients.

The committee also considered aggravating factors including Miss Price’s dishonesty and the fact that she then made further false prescriptions in March, although these were not then presented to a pharmacy. It decided that her conduct fell ‘far short of that expected of a registered veterinary nurse’.