Unrepentant paramedic who avoided jail for stealing £3,000 of life-saving equipment is struck off after complaining about the impact on HIS welfare

A paramedic who avoided prison after stealing thousands of pounds worth of life-saving equipment from an ambulance has been struck off after complaining about his welfare in an email.

Rainer Edmund Morgan-Kavanaugh stole medical items worth around £3,000 from South Western Ambulance Service Foundation Trusts vehicles sometime between July 1 2019 and September 30 2020.

The then 38-year-old initially pleaded not guilty to one count of theft in Plymouth Crown Court on November 13 2023, but at a hearing on January 18 he switched his plea to guilty and was handed a two year jail term suspended for two years. 

He was also ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work and carry out 14 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days.

Following a hearing by the Health & Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS), which was held on January 7 and 8, he has also now been struck off.

Morgan-Kavanaugh, of Mildmay Street, Plymouth, didnt attend the tribunal and sent an email to the HCPTS hearing officer in the weeks leading up to the virtual hearing.

The email said: I have indicated previously that I have no intention of engaging any further with this process. There is no real consequence that the HCPC is able to impose that causes me any concern or will actually alter my life in any meaningful way.

I do not consider that engaging with this will have any impact on the process at all. However it has the potential to have a significant negative impact on me.

Rainer Edmund Morgan-Kavanaugh, pictured, stole thousands of pounds worth of life-saving equipment from an ambulance

The then 38-year-old initially pleaded not guilty to one count of theft in Plymouth Crown Court on November 13 2023, but at a hearing on January 18 he switched his plea to guilty

This has been going for such a long time that it make an absolute mockery of The HCPC and ots [sic] tribunal process. Indicating that this is a system which actually does not exist for any purpose than to serve itself.

It u [sic] does not consider the health or wellbeing of those whom it feels it has the right to pass judgement on. I actually am completely ambivalent to this all now and have no interest in dealing with Blake Morgan or anybody from the HCPC.

The tribunal panel concluded there were a number of aggravating factors which included Morgan-Kavanaughs breach of trust with his employer and service users, the fact he stole multiple items and never apologised or made up for his actions. 

The panel said: There was potential for service user harm, as found by the Panel at the impairment stage.

At Morgan Kavanaughs criminal court hearing, he was made subject of a Mental Health Treatment Review, which was noticed as a mitigating factor by the tribunal. Another mitigating factor was that he only stole from his employer and not an individual person or multiple people.

The items he stole included a Schiller AT-101 ECG machine, which records the electrical activity of the heart, an EMMA ETCO2 respiration rate monitor capnograph, which measures CO2 and respiration rate], and an oxygen cannister.

The panel chose to strike off Morgan-Kavanaugh following what was described as a savage breach of trust when the country needed medical equipment more than it ever had.

Morgan-Kavanaugh didnt attend the tribunal and sent a sickening email to the HCPTS hearing officer in the weeks leading up to the virtual hearing

The items he stole included a Schiller AT-101 ECG machine (pictured), which records the electrical activity of the heart

The report said: The Panel was aware that this [a striking off order] was a sanction of last resort, as set out in paragraph 130 of the Sanctions Policy for serious, persistent, deliberate, or reckless acts involving, among other things, dishonesty, abuse of professional position and/or criminal convictions. 

The Panel considered that the Registrants conviction fell into these specified categories.

It involved a terrible and savage breach of trust at a time when the country needed medical equipment more than it ever had. The Panel was satisfied, based on the nature and gravity of the conviction, together with the Registrants lack of insight, that a Striking Off Order was necessary to protect the public, uphold the standards for members of the profession, and to maintain public confidence in the profession.

Having considered the seriousness of the conviction, together with the Panels finding of impairment, the guidance of the Sanctions Policy, and all the circumstances of the case, the Panel was satisfied that the public interest outweighed the Registrants interests, and its sanction decision is appropriate and proportionate. 

The Panel therefore decided that the appropriate and proportionate sanction is a Striking Off Order.