Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing
NMC panel suspends nurse Shauna McGarvey for 12 months after prescription drug theft conviction
The Nursing and Midwifery Council's Fitness to Practise Committee has suspended nurse Shauna McGarvey for 12 months, finding her fitness to practise impaired by reason of health after her 2023 conviction for stealing prescription drugs from Forth Valley Royal Hospital.
MedicWatch editorial · Published 8 May 2026 · Updated 10 July 2026
Suspension (suspended from practice) — 1 year
Added to MedicWatch: 10 July 2026Report a correction
What does “suspended from practice” mean?
A suspension is a fixed-term pause on the right to practise. The practitioner cannot work in the regulated profession during the suspension. At the end of the period the suspension may be extended, replaced with another sanction, or lifted on review.
Concerning Shauna McGarvey, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 18I2685S).
Decision date: 8 May 2026 · Hearing started 7 May 2026 and ended 8 May 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee found that nurse Shauna McGarvey's fitness to practise was impaired by reason of her health. She was convicted in November 2023 of stealing prescription drugs at Forth Valley Royal Hospital's Acute Admissions Unit between December 2021 and February 2022. The panel suspended her from the register for 12 months with a review, and imposed an 18-month interim suspension order covering the appeal period.
Charges
That you, a registered nurse: 1) have or have had in the past the health condition set out in Schedule 1 [private]; 2) as a consequence of that health condition: a) on 8 November 2023, were convicted of stealing a quantity of prescription drugs on various occasions between 3 December 2021 and 11 February 2022 at the Acute Admissions Unit, Forth Valley Royal Hospital, Larbert. Charges 1 and 2a were found proved.
Findings
At a substantive meeting, the panel found charges 1 and 2a proved and found Ms McGarvey's fitness to practise currently impaired by reason of health, on both public protection and public interest grounds. Expert psychiatric evidence stated she was not fit to practise and presented a high risk of repeating the behaviour, with limited insight. The panel imposed a 12-month suspension order with a review, and an interim suspension order for 18 months to cover the appeal period. Schedule 1 and parts of the determination are private.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
Mitigating factors
Ms McGarvey has relevant health conditions; there were personal circumstances and health-related difficulties at the relevant time; she has engaged to some extent with medical assessment and testing.
Aggravating factors
The conduct involved theft of prescription medication from the workplace; it occurred over a period of time; there was a breach of trust; there was dishonesty and criminal offending; there was potential risk to patients; there remains limited insight into the wider impact of the conduct; there is insufficient evidence of sustained remediation.
Source
All facts on this page are drawn from the publicly published Nursing and Midwifery Council determination linked below. MedicWatch does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.
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