Nurse struck off after 'overdose' on morphine stolen from Northampton General Hospital ward

A nurse has been struck off after apparently overdosing on morphine stolen from a Northampton General Hospital ward where he worked.

Matija Konjevic was found unconscious in his room at nursing accommodation in July 2018 and had to be resuscitated after going into cardiac arrest.

A half-empty 50ml container of morphine, labelled for Rowan Ward was found close. The resuscitation officer at the trust had suspected the cause of Konjevic’s condition was an opiate overdose but could not confirm this.

Previous disciplinary hearings were told how the ward sister identified 50ml of morphine had gone missing from the ward stock while another nurse confirmed Konjevic had been given 'blue keys' to the controlled drugs cupboard the day before he was found unconscious.

Konjevic reportedly left the trust without resigning and returned to Croatia following his discharge from hospital four days after the incident in July 2018.

He was dismissed for gross misconduct in January 2019 following a disciplinary hearing held in his absence and has ignored any attempts by the Nursing and Midwifery Council to review a temporary suspension.

According to documents, Konjevic was told his career was on the line but still failed to take any steps to prove his commitment and that he wanted to carry on working as a nurse.

Concluding the latest misconduct hearing held earlier this month, a report said: "This is the third review of a suspension order originally imposed for a period of 12 months by a Fitness to Practise Committee panel in October 2019.

"The previous review panel extended the suspension order by six months in March 2021.

"Mr Konjevic has not engaged with the NMC on this occasion or in respect of the last review and has not responded to any of the emails sent to him about this hearing.

"This panel determined that a further period of suspension would not serve any useful purpose and determined it was necessary to take action to prevent Mr Konjevic from practising in the future."