‘Lying Nurse’ faked qualifications to get Senior Hospital Job

A nurse is accused of faking her qualifications and experiences to get a senior job at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, South Wales.

Tanya Nasir was trusted to be put in charge of caring for sick and premature babies after claiming she had the same role at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.

Nasir was ward manager on the neonatal unit at the Princess of Wales Hospital for five months until she was eventually exposed and suspended by health chiefs for putting the “most vulnerable of patients at risk”.

Cardiff Crown Court heard the fraud was discovered during the validation of her nursing and midwifery council registration when her line manager spotted “inconsistencies” in her CV.

Prosecutor Emma Harris said the nurse claimed to have worked with premature babies at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London between 2010 and 2015.

But there was no record of her ever working there.

Nasir also claimed to have worked for the West Hertfordshire Hospitals Trust and in the adult intensive care unit at Watford General Hospital.

Ms Harris said there was no record of such employments and she provided further false information when she applied for the job in Wales with the Cwm Taf Morgannwg health board.

Ms Harris said: “They went further than exaggerating or embellishing her qualifications.

“They contained degrees which she simply did not hold, they contained experience which she did not and could not have obtained.”

Nasir’s fake qualifications included degrees in Physics from Hatfield Polytechnic and a BSc in Operating Department Management from the University of West London.

Her registration document with the Health and Care Professions Council, which she needed to become a ward manager, was also bogus.

Nasir also falsely claimed she was a Major in the British Army.

However, this was a lie after employers discovered she failed a basic fitness test as a cadet in 2010.

Nasir spent three years with the Cadet Force before being discharged and struck off in 2016 at the rank of Sergeant Instructor.

It was heard she had never seen active service or been deployed overseas.

Another claim that she had obtained a PGCE from the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst to become a Qualified Army Teaching Instructor with the army was also false.

Matthew Nash-Yearwood is a Major in the Cadet Force who was given as a referee on Nasir’s CV. However, the email address was false and in reality, the account was operated by Nasir.

Ms Harris said Nasir was convicted of benefit fraud in 2010 and failed to tell university bosses when she was studying for a nursing diploma.

But Nasir allegedly edited a letter from the probation service, claiming she was not under any obligation to disclose her convictions.

Bosses at Buckinghamshire New University believed the letter was legitimate so they allowed her to continue the course.

The nurse is also accused of providing false reference information on job applications and claimed she had been shot while on active duty in Afghanistan.

Nasir denies nine counts of fraud.

The trial continues.