A HOSPITAL worker has been struck off after being under the influence of alcohol during surgery.

Sian Lindop, an operating department practitioner, was seen singing and jumping up and down in theatre while on duty at the Spire Southampton Hospital.

Mrs Lindop was struck off after a hearing of the the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) Conduct and Competence Committee, which regulates health care professionals.

One of the witnesses, a trainee support worker, told the panel that on Mrs Lindop repeatedly left her unsupervised in the operating theatre with a patient to search for her water bottle.

The trainee also said she had smelt alcohol on Mrs Lindop’s breath in the gowning area after the surgery had finished at the private hospital in Chalybeate Close.

A second witness said Mrs Lindop “seemed particularly excitable and over exuberant, and was singing and jumping up and down in Ttheatre”.

Another witness told the the panel her behaviour in theatre was hyperactive, inappropriate and was acting out of character being “giggly and kept laughing”.

They also alleged that while they had been sterilising in preparation for the operation, Mrs Lindop hugged two members of the team who had scrubbed up in preparation for surgery, which de-sterilised them.

The witness added when she left the theatre he was “relieved that she wasn’t in theatre anymore putting patients at risk”.

Mrs Lindop was not present or represented at the hearing when her name was struck from the HCPC Register.

Panel chair Debbie Hill said: “The panel was of the view that, in the absence of any engagement with the HCPC during the course of these proceedings, it had no evidence of any insight on the part of the Rregistrant, in particular in respect of whether or not she recognised or acknowledged the potential risks that her behaviour posed to patients, or the adverse effect such behaviour would have on the profession.”

Jane Whitney-Smith, hospital director at Spire Southampton Hospital, said: “At Spire Southampton Hospital, patient safety is our top priority and we demand the highest standards of professionalism from our nursing staff. Behaviour that does not meet these high standards is not tolerated, and in this instance we took immediate action to suspend Ms Lindop throughout the investigation and report our findings to the Health and Care Professions Council.

“We welcome the findings of the Health and Care Professions Council panel which uphold the action we took in this case. Ms Lindop was suspended by Spire Southampton Hospital and is no longer working thereat Spire Southampton Hospital.