A FORMER community hospital matron has been cleared of misconduct at a tribunal.

Linda Ingles, former matron at Malvern Community Hospital, has had all charges against her found ‘not proved’ and there was found to be 'no case to answer' during a misconduct hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council in London between August 8 and August 10.

The first charge was that she had claimed and received payments she was not entitled to totalling £27,974.35 between October, 2007 and August, 2013.

The second charge was that her conduct was dishonest in that she knew she was not entitled to the cash she was claiming/receiving.

The alleged payments included £21,796.62 for additional part time hours. £1,448.14 for overtime, £671.01 for Saturday enhancements, £2,809.93 for Sunday enhancements, £389.52 for unsocial hours, £397.89 for Bank Holiday payments and £461.24 for Working Time Directive payments.

The charge was later amended to cover the period between January, 2012 and August, 2013 and related to £3,871.87 for additional part time hours, £1,448.14 for overtime, £25.52 for Saturday enhancements, £270.30 for Sunday enhancements, £257.50 for unsocial hours and £69.22 for Working Time Directive payments.

But the panel heard there was ‘no case to answer’ from Justin Meiland, instructed by the Royal College of Nursing.

The report read: “Mr Meiland submitted there is either no evidence, or the evidence is so weak that no panel could find the facts proved regarding what are serious allegations amounting to fraud.

“Mr Meiland submitted the NMC has provided no evidence you had known you were not entitled to the sums you were claiming or receiving.” The NMC was said not to have provided evidence to support the allegations she was not entitled to claim and/or receive additional part time hours, enhancements, unsocial hours and working time directive payments.

The report read: "Overall the NMC appeared to accept you were honest up to a certain point. It had failed to provide any evidence as to why the position had changed thereafter

"The panel therefore finds there is no case to answer regarding charges one and two."

Nigel Gilbert, chairman of Betrayed By Their Trust (BBTT) formed in February 2015 to combat abuse of NHS staff in Worcestershire, claimed to speak for Linda Ingles.

He said: "There was not a top manager in sight. These three witnesses somehow had been permitted or encouraged to come to London to complete Linda's destruction by top trust managers. We need to know who they are. We think we do.

"The appalling thing is that they did not dispute Linda had done all the work for which she had been paid.

"This was work additional to her duties as a matron. She had led the trust on the planning and building and opening of the new community hospital at Malvern.

"It was agreed this had saved the trust money which would have been spent otherwise on expensive consultants.

"She had worked as an extra member of staff temporarily for a few months in the new Minor Injuries Unit and had thereby saved them them the expense of employing agency staff at three times the rate.

"Instead of thanking Linda for her efforts these witnesses came from Worcestershire to say that she had broken the rules of a document Agenda for Change which should have prevented her from doing extra work."