A prison nurse has been sacked over claims she formed an inappropriate relationship with an inmate.
Samantha Ketterer was suspected of having an affair with a prisoner at HMP Low Moss after several “viable” Scottish Prison Service sources raised concerns about their relationship and she was found to have accessed his medical records a “concerning” number of times.
The inmate involved also went on to tell a psychologist that he was in a relationship with her and that she had agreed to bring drugs into the prison for him.
Ms Ketterer was also caught with prescription drugs in her pocket while on a tea break.
Following a lengthy investigation by the prison service and NHS Greater Glasgow, bosses at the health board decided to dismiss her in December 2020.
She went on to raise a claim for unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal, however she has now lost that case.
Employment judge Beyzade Beyzade said he was “satisfied that there was a fair reason for the claimant’s dismissal, namely misconduct”.
The tribunal heard that Ms Ketterer took up the role at Low Moss, in East Dunbartonshire, in April 2019.
In October that year, a security alarm sounded as she returned to the prison from her tea break and a strip of medication was found in her pocket.
She was taken to the office of the prison service’s head of operations who told her that there had been a number of intelligence reports which suggested her position at HMP Low Moss “had been compromised”.
Ms Ketterer was then removed from the prison.
One month later, a consultant clinical psychologist at the jail reported that a prisoner had disclosed that he had been having an inappropriate relationship with an NHS nurse named Samantha.
The tribunal judgment states that the psychologist had been told “that the relationship had been going on for several months, that [the prisoner] used a contraband mobile telephone to maintain contact with the nurse, that he offered the nurse money towards car repairs, and that she agreed to bring a drugs package into the prison”.
The inmate also claimed that she was having similar relationships with other prisoners.
Ms Ketterer was suspended and invited to attend a disciplinary meeting, during which she denied having had any inappropriate relationship with a prisoner.
However, during the investigation, “multiple sources” said they had noticed the nurse spending a lot of time with the prisoner, including taking him into the nurse’s rooms and going to his cell.
A systems check also revealed that Ms Ketterer has accessed his records 71 times when she usually accessed patient records an average of three times per inmate.
These included 17 instances where she had checked his records on returning to work after a day off or annual leave.
While the health board found that there was no evidence of her bringing in contraband, it found that the information from the prison service sources, the disclosure from the prisoner, and the systems data indicated that there was likely to be an inappropriate relationship.
Following several delays due to the Covid-19 pandemic, she was dismissed and reported to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
However, she received no sanctions and is still working as a nurse in a Glasgow care home.
Ms Ketterer tried to claim that no “reasonable employer” would have found her guilty of serious misconduct given the circumstances, however the tribunal rejected this.
A spokesman for NHS Greater Glasgow said: “We would confirm that all appropriate referrals have been undertaken as relevant. This individual is no longer employed by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and it would not be appropriate to comment further.”
The Scottish Prison Service did not respond.
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