A scientist who didn’t want to work day shifts swapped his own faeces with a patient who had salmonella to prove to his bosses he had food poisoning.

Bernard Watkins worked as a biomedical scientist in the microbiology department at Cwm Taf University Health Board.

After he was handed day shifts, instead of his preferred night shifts, he went into a freezer at work and took a patient sample which had tested positive for salmonella before using a computer at work to check a patient’s confidential details and make sure they had the disease.

But days later he confessed all to one of his bosses – admitting he had “spiked” his sample.

Mr Watkins was due to appear before a conduct and competence panel of the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) for allegations of dishonesty, misconduct and whether his fitness to practise has been impaired, but the hearing was held in his absence.

The panel heard on Thursday how on October 10, 2016, Mr Watkins, who had 20 years service at the time, told his bosses he was unable to come into work as he feeling unwell and suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting.

He left a faecal sample in the office on the same date.

MRSA on a petri dish
Mr Watkins put his own faeces into a stool sample which had tested positive for salmonella

Two days later, on October 12, he called his employers to say he wouldn’t be working for the rest of the week as he remained unwell.

The same day the faecal sample tested positive for salmonella.

One of his bosses, Kelly Ward, the manager for Microbiology, phoned Mr Watkins and asked him to submit another faecal sample signed by his GP.

On October 13 Mr Watkins explained to Mrs Ward he had been to his GP and provided the sample. But the sample tested negative for salmonella.

On October 17 Mr Watkins returned to work and Mrs Ward completed a return to work form. She discussed concerns with him going off work when he was required to work day shifts instead of his preferred night shifts.

But just two days later, as Mr Watkins was finishing a night shift which ended at 8am, he called Mrs Ward and asked to meet her when she got into work.

He told her he “deliberately contaminated” a sample of a patient who had salmonella with his own faeces by adding in his own faecal matter, saying his employer would have “found out anyway”.

Giving evidence at the hearing Mrs Ward said during the meeting Mr Watkins admitted that he “spiked [his] sample” and that he had to tell her because “you would have found out anyway”.

He told her he had gone into a freezer where the samples were kept before picking one and adding his own faeces. He then checked the patient’s confidential information on a computer at work to make sure they had the disease.

Mrs Ward added there was no clinical reason why Mr Watkins acted in the way he did and he did not have authorisation to do it.

She added she was “in quite a lot of shock and was quite upset” when she found out and that Mr Watkins was “extremely agitated”. She immediately told her line manager and Mr Watkins was investigated.

The hearing heard that Mr Watkins “wanted to convince his employer he was genuinely unwell”, said presenting officer for the HCPC Claire Parry.

She added that Mr Watkins “acted to deceive his employer” and did it “for his own gain”.

All of the allegations against Mr Watkins were found proven by the HCPC conduct and competence panel. They found his actions amounted to misconduct and his fitness to practice was impaired.

In coming to their decision regarding the sanction, panel chair Claire Cheetham said: "Because of the aggravating factors outlined and because of the gravity and calculated nature of the dishonesty against the registrant's employer, the panel has concluded that the only available sanction that it can impose in this case is a striking off order."

Mr Watkins' name will now be struck off from the register and he will be unable to carry on working as a scientist.