‘I am guilty’: Midwife’s registration cancelled after stealing prescription drugs from hospital ward

Friday, 5 June 2026

A registered midwife was caught misappropriating approximately 112 tablets of amitriptyline hydrochloride at Wellington Regional Hospital.

To access the medication, the midwife made fraudulent entries in the controlled drug registry.

After initially denying the thefts, the practitioner immediately stated, 'I am guilty,' explaining she was self-medicating an old wrist injury.

The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal ordered her registration to be cancelled.

A registered midwife who secretly stole pain medication from a hospital ward to self-medicate a wrist injury immediately told investigators 'I am guilty' when confronted about the missing drugs.

The midwife used her position to fraudulently access up to 112 capsules of amitriptyline hydrochloride from automated dispensing machines over a four-month period.

She logged the medication against the names of four patients who had never been prescribed it, creating false entries in the controlled drug registry to hide her actions.

Amitriptyline is a pain-relief medication that is not commonly used for postpartum women. Staff at the hospital first noticed a drug discrepancy in January 2024, but when a manager initially questioned the midwife, she denied taking anything.

During a formal preliminary investigation meeting three weeks later, she made an immediate confession.

The summary of the meeting records that the midwife immediately said 'I am guilty' and explained that she had taken some amitriptyline from the Pyxis machine from time to time over the last year to enable her to self-medicate for pain relief.

She told investigators she 'had been under ACC for an injury to her wrist and still had trouble lifting things'. She reiterated her admissions in later emails to employers and a professional conduct committee.

The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal found the midwife guilty of professional misconduct for the misappropriation of prescription medicine and self-prescribing. It determined that her conduct amounted to malpractice, brought discredit to her profession, and required a severe disciplinary sanction.

The tribunal stated that the established conduct was serious.

'While the Tribunal is sympathetic to what appears to be genuine underlying health issues, a midwife’s first responsibility is to her patients,' the recently released decision stated.

'While there appears to be extenuating circumstances, misappropriating medicine and inappropriate logging could affect patient safety, reflects poorly on the practitioner’s professional judgement and is unacceptable in any circumstance'.

A third allegation that she made false fitness-to-practice declarations regarding her physical condition in 2022 and 2023 was dismissed by the tribunal due to insufficient evidence.

The professional conduct committee argued that the midwife's actions breached patient trust and compromised the integrity of hospital medical charts, creating an inherent risk to patient care.

The tribunal concluded that cancellation was necessary because the midwife did not demonstrate insight into her behaviour or meaningfully participate in the disciplinary hearing.

It stated that the established conduct would not have warranted cancellation if the practitioner had demonstrated insight into their behaviour and provided evidence that they had taken steps to address the context in which the offending occurred.

Her registration was cancelled, she was censured, and she was ordered to pay 10% of the prosecution and tribunal costs, a reduced amount totalling $3,409.42 which reflected her documented limited financial means.