A SENIOR nurse has been banned from work over accusations she tried to steal morphine.

Jaine Curley was working shifts at Manchester Royal Infirmary when she broke strict rules on handling controlled drugs by preparing the morphine injection on her own.

She is accused of removing a syringe of salt water from her pocket, intending to swap it for the morphine last February.

Curley denies this, saying she accidentally pocketed the salt solution after using it earlier in the day - but she was sacked from the NHS agency employing her for gross misconduct.

She did not attend the Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing in London, where a panel decided to suspend her for 18 months or until they hold a full hearing.

Panel chairman Eileen Pollock said: "The order is necessary due to the serious nature of the allegation and it is related to a breach of the controlled drug policy.

"It resulted in her being dismissed for gross misconduct."

The panel heard how Curley, who is qualified as a nursing manager, and a colleague were asked to prepare some morphine for a patient, a procedure which should be strictly checked by two nurses.

When the other nurse turned her back to do something else, Curley continued the process alone.

Curley's colleague reported hearing her open the morphine container and turned around to see she had already drawn the drug up into a syringe.

She then claims Curley put her hand in her pocket and took out a different syringe.

The panel was told that Curley was asked to turn out her pockets, revealing a second syringe. Both were sent away for analysis.

Curley claimed she had put the salt solution in her pocket by accident after using it to clean a tube earlier in the day.

Hannah Capgras, for the NMC, said there was a allegation by the trust that she `attempted to obtain morphine by deception'.

She told the hearing there had been a breach of drug procedures, but there was no evidence aside from the hospital's comments that Curley had been trying to obtain morphine for her own use.

A spokeswoman for NHS Professionals, who employed Curley, said: "We worked in partnership with the trust to quickly investigate this complaint and, following an internal disciplinary hearing on July 2 2007, this nurse was removed from our staff bank as a result of her failure to comply with trust procedures when checking a controlled drug and her contract with NHS Professionals was terminated.

"She has not been offered any shifts in any NHS trusts through NHS Professionals since this disciplinary hearing."

A spokeswoman for the MRI said: "We have very strict policies for the management of controlled drugs and treat any incident very seriously, including referral to the NMC if appropriate."