A nurse formerly employed at Cygnet Hospital Hexham has been allowed to keep her registration but placed under strict conditions after a tribunal found that repeated medication errors put patients at risk.
Violet Iyoki was given a 12-month conditions of practice order following proceedings held by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) on several occasions between June 2025 and October 2026. The tribunal found four of five allegations against her proven.
The incidents happened between 12 June 2022 and 10 January 2023 while Ms Iyoki was working at the Hexham hospital. The tribunal heard that the cases involved different patients and a series of mistakes in dispensing or administering medication.
Four medication allegations found proven
The proven allegations included administering an incorrect dose of chlordiazepoxide to one patient and dispensing five times the correct amount of clozapine for another. Ms Iyoki also attempted to give a third patient medicine in the “wrong pot” and dispensed the wrong antibiotic for a fourth person.
The tribunal was told that no patient suffered harm. However, case presenter Nawazish Choudhury said the incidents were each near misses.
“Although no patients suffered harm from your actions, each of the charges found proved constituted a near miss.”
Ms Iyoki had argued that the five allegations were the result of “racial bias”. She was represented by Neomi Bennett of the Equality 4 Black Nurses organisation.
Ms Bennett told the tribunal that a clinical error, a breach of policy or practice below the expected standard did not automatically amount to misconduct. She asked the panel to consider Ms Iyoki’s state of mind, the circumstances, and the actual and potential consequences of the incidents.
Conditions placed on nursing registration
The panel nevertheless concluded that the proven actions amounted to misconduct. It described the conduct as a repeated pattern of careless and unsafe practice involving medication dispensing and administration, and said it fell seriously short of the standards expected of a nurse.
“The panel was of the view that fellow members of the nursing profession would regard this as deplorable.”
The tribunal ruled that Ms Iyoki’s fitness to practise was impaired. Her registration remains in place, but the order requires her to follow several safeguards for 12 months.
- She must work for only one employer and for no period shorter than six weeks.
- She must not be the sole nurse on duty or in charge at any time.
- She must be directly supervised by another nurse when carrying out tasks involving medication management.
The panel said Ms Iyoki had shown insight into her errors and a willingness to improve. It identified medication management, including dispensing and administering medicines, as areas requiring assessment or retraining, while noting that there was a realistic prospect of resolving the concerns through strengthened practice.
The tribunal also recorded that Ms Iyoki was willing to strengthen her practice in those areas.