Struck off: Health council made decision due to 'inconsistencies'

The HPC’s Conduct and Competence Committee found he had provided out-of-date diamorphine to a colleague for pain relief and also failed to appropriately store, or to follow his own company’s policy on the storage, and auditing of controlled drugs.

At the High Court in London he argued he was wrongly found guilty of misconduct and that a warning or conditions on his practice would have been enough to protect the public.

The court heard Rice, a qualified paramedic since 2004, accepted that on April 18, 2008, he gave a work colleague a bag of expired drugs, including 17 ampoules of diamorphine.

He was charged with supplying a quantity of diamorphine – a class A drug – but found not guilty at a crown court hearing.

However, the HPC panel struck him off as a registered paramedic, pointing to ‘inconsistencies’ between what he told police and his evidence to them.

During the High Court hearing Mr Rice argued the panel misunderstood his evidence and his explanations of what happened and insisted he had passed on the drugs ‘for disposal’.

He told the court he ‘flipped his lid’ when he learned the man might make personal use of the drugs and told Mr Justice Lindblom he felt that the panel had already made their decision on his case before the hearing had started.

Mr Rice volunteers as a helmsman with the Lyme Regis RNLI and is a standard bearer for the town’s branch of the Royal British Legion.

In dismissing the appeal, Mr Justice Lindblom said the panel were ‘entitled’ to reach the conclusions they did and their decision was ‘well-founded’.

The judge said: “I find it impossible to fault the committee’s conclusion that the act of supplying a controlled drug to a colleague is extremely serious, and one which undermines public confidence in the profession.

“From the strength of that evidence I find that the finding of the committee is reasonable and robust. I am satisfied that, in every respect, the committee's decision was well-founded.”