Natalie Twomey told her bosses her sister was intensive care – but festive Facebook photos suggested otherwise
London Ambulance Service paramedics are some of the most hardworking frontline workers(Image: John Keeble/Getty Images)
A London paramedic who claimed her sister was in hospital to get off work has been sacked after it emerged the sister was at home putting up Christmas decorations. Natalie Twomey called in sick in November 2022, telling the London Ambulance Service “My sister has deteriorated again and had to drive back to Norfolk to be with her”, but this turned out to be a lie, a tribunal heard.
Photos shared on her sister’s Facebook account showed decorations going up in her home for the festive season. When Twomey was confronted about this in a meeting in April 2023, she claimed he sister’s husband made the posts while his wife was in hospital. The misconduct panel rejected this though, deciding the posts were incompatible with Twomey’s claims to LAS.
Twomey was removed from frontline duties in June 2023 after she turned up to work smelling of alcohol and tried to blame a vomiting patient. The excuse was not backed up by another paramedic, who could not recall the patient being covered in alcohol or vomit.
Christmas decoration photos were enough to raise suspicions (file image)(Image: Abel Mitjà Varela/Getty Images)
After restrictions were placed on Twomey’s practice, stopping her from working on the road, she then lied about there being no changes to her character when renewing her registration. She then tried to get a secondment away from working in logistics, claiming a knee and back injury were the reason for being on non-patient duties.
Twomey then lied to another potential employer about her reasons for leaving LAS, claiming she had not been dismissed and that she was not under investigation for her fitness to practice. In April 2024, Twomey was then convicted for drink driving while on duty as a custody medic at a police station.
After finding all the allegations proved, the Health and Care Professions Council found a striking off order appropriate.
“The Registrant’s behaviour was serious, persistent and deliberate. It involved dishonesty, and a criminal conviction that had an impact on the Registrant’s fitness to practise. The Registrant lacks insight into her dishonesty and her failure to co-operate with the HCPC. The Panel was of the view that any lesser sanction would be insufficient to protect the public,” it wrote.
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