Death case nurse is threatened

THE NURSE who reported Dr Nigel Cox, the hospital consultant, after he injected a dying patient with a lethal dose of potassium chloride, has been plagued by crank calls and threats of violence.

In an interview with Nursing Times magazine, Sister Roisin Hart describes her shock when she saw medical notes revealing what Dr Cox had done.

Dr Cox was later found guilty of attempting to murder Lillian Boyes, 70. He was given a 12-month suspended prison sentence at Winchester Crown Court last month and is awaiting a General Medical Council decision on whether he will be allowed to practise again.

Sister Hart, a nurse at Winchester's Royal Hampshire County Hospital, said that since the court case there had been letters and a threatening call at the hospital. 'We've also had crank phone calls going on about me being a Catholic. I am, but it has nothing to do with what for me was purely a professional decision.

'By documenting what he had done, Dr Cox involved the nurses and touched so many peoples' lives. It was so blatant. I knew we couldn't cover it up. I'd have been an accessory. The notes would go out to audit and it would come out then or leak out some other way.' She added that she was disappointed the Central Council for Nursing had not publicly supported her.