UK Ebola nurse facing conduct probe

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A BRITISH nurse who contracted Ebola while working in Sierra Leone is being investigated following allegations about her conduct and that of four colleagues.

PAULINE Cafferkey flew back to the UK via Casablanca and London Heathrow before landing at Glasgow Airport late on December 28.

She was admitted to hospital in Glasgow the next day after feeling feverish and was diagnosed with the disease, which has left more than 9000 people dead. Public Health England (PHE) said it had passed information to the General Medical Council (GMC) and Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after assessing the screening of healthcare workers returning to the UK. Three nurses and two doctors are now being investigated. “During our recent assessment of the screening of some returning healthcare workers at Heathrow on December 28th, information emerged which needed to be passed to the General Medical Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council,” a PHE spokeswoman said on Monday. “We are aware that the regulators are now considering the matter and it would be inappropriate for PHE to comment further at this time.” Ms Cafferkey had been volunteering with Save The Children at the Ebola Treatment Centre in Kerry Town before returning to the UK in December. She spent more than three weeks being treated at the Royal Free Hospital where she was critically ill for a time, but was released last month after making a full recovery. A report released earlier this month found that Ms Cafferkey possibly caught the virus by wearing a visor and not goggles, although this could not be certain.