A BASINGSTOKE nurse has been suspended for 12 months after she injected a drug used for varicose veins into the face of a patient, which could have caused her to go blind.

Patient Lisa Fairbanks has spoken about the agonising ordeal after the nurse who administered the injection, Julie Kenny, had her licence suspended for a year by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

Ms Kenny admitted performing the unsafe procedure by injecting Sclerovein into a blood spot on Lisa’s forehead without a prescription to do so.

Lisa told The Gazette that the injection left her with blurred vision in one eye.

The NMC hearing also heard Ms Kenny had used a prescription for Sclerovein that was intended for a different patient, without having been trained in administering it or without consent from the patient.

As previously reported in The Gazette, Ms Fairbanks, a mother-of-two from Cranbourne, reported Ms Kenny to the NMC following the procedure on October 3, 2013.

Lisa went to her doctor after the blood spot appeared on her forehead, but was advised that treatment was not available on the NHS, and it was suggested she try a beauty clinic.

She researched various clinics and found one based in St John’s Piece, Oakley, called Pure Skin, run by Ms Kenny at her home.

Ms Fairbanks agreed to go ahead with the treatment at a cost of £55. However, it was quickly clear something was wrong.

The 41-year-old said: “It was shockingly agonising. I said ‘I can’t bear the pain any more’.”

Lisa’s face started to swell and she woke up with a feeling of immense pressure behind her eyes and blurred vision. She visited A&E at Basingstoke hospital, and said: “My face looked like it had been in a boxing ring. I couldn’t see out of my left eye. My vision had gone.”

Lisa, who works in a beauty salon, said she has been left with pain behind her left eye, headaches, blurred vision and a scar on her forehead. She has since had to pay £940 for further remedial treatment, and said the ordeal has knocked her confidence.

Ms Kenny admitted to the NMC that she did not have training in the use of Sclerovein or have a full understanding of its possible side effects.

Chris Geering, from the Royal College of Nursing, who represented Ms Kenny, pointed out that the incident was isolated in a 10-year nursing career, and that Ms Kenny had admitted to all but one of the proved charges.

The NMC concluded that “actual harm” was caused to Lisa, and could have resulted in her going blind. The panel said Ms Kenny’s actions “amounted to misconduct”.

It added that Ms Kenny had administered the drug without proper training, without researching it or reading all the information that came with the drug, which said it can cause irreversible eye damage.

The report said: “The panel considered that your actions demonstrated a failure to show due regard for the consequences, and in regard to your own work as a professional nurse.”

It said there was a “risk of repetition” adding: “A finding of impairment was necessary on the grounds of public protection.”

The NMC found two charges not proved, relating to recording how the Sclerovein was administered and failing to arrange a follow-up visit.

Following the hearing Lisa said: “I still have the scar on my face and still feel down. I keep thinking I wish I could go back in time and not do it.

“I’m glad I saw this through. At least it’ll stop it happening to someone else.”

The Gazette was unable to contact Ms Kenny for a comment.