A GPhC FtP committee last week (October 16) found that a superintendent pharmacist who “failed a roadside breath test” after a “road traffic collision” and “attended work in a pharmacy setting” while under the influence of alcohol is “highly unlikely to repeat her behaviour”.
“Shortly after 3pm on February 2 2020”, Jane Anne Wenyon, registration number 2035959, “was found by the police in the driver’s seat of a Citroen Berlingo van with the airbag deployed on the A259 [at] Newhaven”, according to the hearing document.
“She was the superintendent and responsible pharmacist at her own pharmacy business, which specialised in the provision of medication to care homes” and “had been delivering medication to patients at the material time”, it said.
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The GPhC added that her company vehicle “was positioned as though it had crashed into the curb of the bus stop and mounted the grass area beyond” and that the “car accident [occurred] with school children in close proximity”.
Wenyon pleaded guilty to “driving a motor vehicle after consuming so much alcohol that the proportion of it in [her] breath…exceeded the prescribed limit” at Hastings Magistrates Court, it said.
She was “disqualified from driving for 36 months”, fined £1,125 and ordered to pay £421 in fees before she reported herself to the GPhC in December 2020, it added.
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In October 2023, the council imposed a year-long “conditions of practice” order – meaning she had to meet with an approved mentor to report on her “ongoing ability to manage [her] business/work” every six months and drive a car “fitted with a mechanism to test the driver’s alcohol levels” - according to the document.
In a review of the conditions this month, the committee said it “was satisfied that the registrant had taken extensive steps to address managing stress and her alcohol intake particularly in times of immense personal challenges” and to “turn her life around”.
“No further concerns had been expressed about her conduct since this incident in 2020,” it added, determining to impose no further sanction.
“Very upset”
The FtP report said that Wenyon “had received some bad news about the health of a relative that had caused her to be very upset” on February 1 2020.
“She confirmed that later the same afternoon, she had consumed at least six large drinks of her husband’s ‘home brew’, some of which was wine,” it added.
“She also provided details of a disturbing family conversation that took place that evening, which had caused her further distress and led to her hardly sleeping that night,” it said.
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Wenyon “nevertheless felt capable of going into work the next day” to fulfil “various duties and a meeting with a care home client,” the hearing document added.
The original 2023 hearing found that “attending work whilst inebriated showed a clear and obvious lack of judgment” and attending a meeting with “key clients” constituted “a breach of her obligation to work only when fit to do so”.
“She stated she had not considered herself to be inebriated and the positive breathalyser test had been a shock to her,” the new FtP document said.
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But it added that after the crash, police “could smell what they believed to be alcohol while talking to the registrant” and said that she was “slightly confused and her speech was slurred”.
The committee also noted that in 2014, the council’s investigation committee (IC) gave Wenyon a warning “for a similar conviction – driving with excess alcohol – in 2012”.
But it said “that matter was over 11 years old and therefore spent and protected under the rehabilitation of offenders act 1974”.
“Insidious habit”
“The registrant stated that she was totally ashamed of the incident on February 2 2020 and would not have made those decisions now” but that the process that followed had “changed her a great deal and made her a better person”, the committee heard.
“At the time, she had not realised she was developing an insidious habit, but she had now made lifestyle changes that would ensure it was not possible for such an incident to occur again,” the report said.
“The registrant had provided a great deal of documentary evidence in support including training and continuing professional development (CPD) certificates that included courses on traffic laws and safety, ethical issues, and drug and alcohol awareness,” the GPhC found.
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It found that she could give examples of “personal problems” that she had dealt with “without relying on alcohol” in the last year and that there was “no evidence of alcohol dependency”.
“She was clearly more resilient now than she had been in February 2020,” it said, adding that she “plans to train to become a ‘Sobriety Counsellor’ and help others to reduce their alcohol intake”.
Although there “had been a few initial issues in engagement from the registrant…it was clear to the committee that the registrant had done her best to comply with the spirit of the conditions”, it said.
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“She had been thoughtful, open and candid when giving her evidence, not seeking to avoid questions and giving very full answers throughout,” it found.
“The committee concluded that the registrant’s fitness to practise was no longer impaired” and “accordingly…made no further order,” it said.
“The conditions will expire on October 31 2024,” it added.
Read the determination in full here.
