Children's doctor guilty of serious professional misconduct after cracking open a can of lager on a hospital ward during nightshift

A children's doctor was caught drinking from a can of lager between seeing patients on a nightshift. 

Former army medic Dr Anna Crawford, 49, was heard opening a can before taking a sip in a staff room during a break between seeing young patients.

A shocked healthcare assistant who witnessed the illicit drink noticed the rest of the four pack in Crawford's ruck sack and reported the matter to colleagues. The doctor was then sent home after causing an incident on the ward.

Inquiries by the General Medical Council revealed Crawford who was working at Warrington, Cheshire had previously been convicted twice of drink driving and was later caught drunk behind the wheel of a car for a third time.

At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service she was found guilty of serous professional misconduct but escaped being struck off after she cited personal issues which were not disclosed to the Manchester hearing.

She was instead suspended from medical practice for 12 months. It is thought she will move back to her native Scotland when she is allowed to practise medicine again.

The incident occurred in October 2021 when the paediatrician was undertaking a locum shift covering the labour, post-natal and paediatric wards for the Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

In a statement a healthcare support worker known as Ms E said: 'Whilst working on the Paediatric Ward I saw Dr Crawford opening a can of alcohol whilst on shift.

'I heard a really distinctive sound of a can being opened. But the sound I heard I knew this wasn't a regular can of drink. I instantly got a smell of strong lager. Dr Crawford got up and left and didn't know i was there.

'As soon as she left I went over to where her bags were to over look the area and the smell was really strong and I instantly knew this was alcohol.'

When quizzed Crawford said she had purchased a four pack of lager at a garage on the way to her shift. 

She opened one can whilst in the staff room on her first break, took a sip and returned the opened can of lager to her bag.

The hearing was told she had convictions for drink driving in 2011, as well as September last year at Elgin Sheriff Court after she had tested three times the alcohol limit. 

She was sentenced to a Restriction of Liberty Order for six months, ordered to be electronically tagged and was banned from driving for three years.

In a statement Crawford said: 'I am aware of the magnitude of my actions for which again I apologise unreservedly. I would in no way try to minimise or dismiss the impact of those actions on my patients, my colleagues, my profession, or indeed on myself.

'I am confident that should I be fortunate enough to be able to return to medical practice, I will be more resilient and robust than previously; mindful and vigilant of my wellbeing.'

She added: 'I hope the panel has been presented with sufficient evidence to be satisfied that I have access to a variety of support networks, coping strategies, and techniques to which I am now fully committed and with which I continue to engage on a very regular basis.

'I should respectfully like to suggest that a period of suspension form the medical register would be appropriate in my case, and mark the serious nature of my misconduct and conviction. 

'A period of suspension would also allow me to provide reassurances and undertake continuing professional development activities.

'Should this be the decision of the panel, I would welcome the opportunity to provide evidence of my progress at any review hearing which the panel may feel it appropriate to order.'

Counsel for the GMC Mr Tom Orpin-Massey told the hearing that Crawford's behaviour was 'deplorable' and was sent home as a result of an incident on the ward.

He said: 'The drinking of alcohol on shift would plainly be regarded as deplorable by fellow doctors. The incident took place on a night shift on a paediatric ward, and after taking the mouthful of beer, Dr Crawford could have been engaging with young patients.

'There was certainly an onward risk. Ms E was plainly shocked by what she saw a fellow healthcare professional do and had no doubt that she had to report the matter straight away.

'Dr Crawford's actions potentially put patients at risk and caused an incident on the ward that she had to be dealt with and sent home. She left the team a member short on what appears to have been a difficult and busy shift.'

In suspending Crawford, MPTS chairman Mrs Ruth Curtis said: 'Dr Crawford drank alcohol whilst on her night shift and had to be sent home as a result of this - leaving her post uncovered and the hospital short staffed.

'The Tribunal was mindful of Dr Crawford's evidence that she purchased four cans of beer at a garage whilst buying petrol on her way into work but that it had not been her intention to drink them whilst on shift.

'But she brought the cans into the staff room at work rather than leaving them in her car. 

'Dr Crawford viewed her purchasing the beer as a lapse of judgment, but the Tribunal considered there were two further lapses of judgment, when she decided to take the cans into the staff room, and when she opened the can to take a sip during her shift.

'Other members of the profession and the wider public would consider these actions to be deplorable. Dr Crawford said on her first break of the shift she took a mouthful of alcohol put the can back in her bag and then went to the kitchen to make herself a drink.

'It was more likely than not that she would have consumed more alcohol during the shift had she not been caught, putting patients at serious risk of harm.'

Mrs Curtis added: 'The Tribunal reminded itself of Dr Crawford's evidence that she preferred working night shifts so that she could walk her dog in the day. 

'Dr Crawford explained that night shifts had fewer doctors and health professionals working. She gave evidence that she had been working a run of night shifts and this was her eighth night shift in a row.

'When asked what led her to consume the alcohol on this particular occasion, she replied that it had been a difficult shift but gave no specific further details. 

'She gave no explanation as to what had prompted her to buy the alcohol, other than a lapse in judgement and that the purchase was before the difficult shift had begun.

'The Tribunal did not feel that Dr Crawford provided a credible reason for purchasing and consuming the alcohol on that particular day. Her actions put her patients at unwarranted risk of harm. She was in a position of trust and confidence whichever ward she worked in and that all patients under her care would be vulnerable.'

Crawford will face a review hearing next year.