Ex-nurse of Dr. Stephen Hawking sees license revoked

A former nurse of Stephen Hawking, PhD, had her license revoked during a hearing March 12 for failing to provide adequate care to the physicist, The Guardian reports.

Five things to know:

1. After a six-week closed-door hearing, the United Kingdom's Nursing & Midwifery Council ruled March 12 that Patricia Dowdy, RN, "failed to provide the standards of good, professional care that we expect and professor Hawking deserved" and revoked her license, the report states.

2. Ms. Dowdy, who had worked for Dr. Hawking for eight years, faced several misconduct charges, including financial misconduct, dishonesty, failure to provide appropriate care, failure to cooperate with the NMC and failure to have the correct qualifications.

3. Ms. Dowdy was given an interim suspension in 2016 over the misconduct allegations.

4. An NMC director said in a statement Ms. Dowdy will not be able to practice as a nurse: "As the public rightly expects, in serious cases such as this — where a nurse has failed in their duty of care and has not been able to evidence to the panel that they have learned from their mistakes and be fit to practise — we will take action."

5. The Hawking family spokesperson said in a statement they were "relieved this traumatic ordeal has now concluded," and thanked the NMC for their investigation. Dr. Hawking died in March 2018 at age 76.

To access the full report, click here.

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