A paramedic who claimed her sister was in hospital to get off work has been fired, after her sibling’s Facebook account showed her putting up Christmas decorations at home.
Natalie Twomey emailed her bosses in the London Ambulance Service to tell them her sister, who she previously claimed was in intensive care, had ‘deteriorated’ and she needed to be with her.
She sent the message in November 2022, writing: ‘I’ve had to phone in sick as my sister has deteriorated again and had to drive back to Norfolk to be with her.’
But the ambulance service found Facebook posts shared by her sister showing her house decorated for Christmas.
Ms Twomey had also shared a memory of a holiday in Mexico, writing: ‘8 days till this paradise again.’
When she was challenged on this in April 2023, she claimed that her sister had been in an ICU.
Despite her claims that it was her brother-in-law who had shared the post, it was later determined that she knew her sister was not sick at the time.
In separate incidents at a later date, she attended work smelling of alcohol, which led to her being removed from front line duties.
Despite her claims that it was her brother-in-law who had shared the post, it was later determined that Natalie Twomey (pictured) knew her sister was not sick at the time
Ms Twomey emailed her bosses in the London Ambulance Service to tell them her sister, who she had previously claimed was in intensive care, had ‘deteriorated’ and that she needed to be with her
She did not tell the Health & Care Professional Tribunal Service (HCPTS) about her restrictions to practice when renewing her registration, claiming she was not doing patient-facing duties at the time due to an injury to her back and knee.
She was dismissed in November 2023.
But in future interviews, she said she had resigned from the ambulance service, and claimed she had never been subjected to a disciplinary hearing.
Ms Twomey was arrested in April 2024, having been caught drink driving, and was disqualified from driving.
The case was then taken to an HCPTS tribunal, which concluded Ms Twomey’s ‘deliberate dishonesty’ had undermined ‘public confidence in her and the profession.’
She has now been struck off from the medical register.
The hearing concluded: ‘A finding of dishonesty is a serious finding that undermines public confidence in her and the profession.
‘It was deliberate dishonesty, for personal gain, sustained over a period of time between 28 November 2022 and 20 March 2024, and involved ten individual findings of dishonesty, involving two employers and the regulator.
‘The Panel considered that [Ms Twomey’s] attitude is long-standing and deep-seated.
‘The imposition of a Striking Off Order sends a clear message to [Ms Twomey] and to other members of the profession that such dishonesty and such criminal behaviour is entirely unacceptable for members of the profession.
‘The Panel concluded that the appropriate and proportionate sanction in this case was a Striking Off Order.’
