British nurse Pauline Cafferkey who was infected with the Ebola virus while working in Sierra Leone in 2014 is now facing disciplinary action for allegedly concealing her temperature on her return to the UK. She has been accused of taking paracetamol to lower her temperature to pass screening checks at Heathrow Airport.

According to local media reports, the Scottish medical worker is expected to face a fitness to practice hearing at the Nursing Midwifery Council in September. The council alleges that Cafferkey failed to inform screening staff who took her temperature at the airport that she had recently taken paracetamol and left the area without reporting her true reading.

According to the Telegraph, Cafferkey is accused of "allowing an incorrect temperature to be recorded" on 29 December 2014 which was "intended to conceal from Public Health England staff a temperature higher than 100F (38C)"

If she is found to have wilfully misled public health workers, she could be struck off the nursing register, the newspaper said.

A council spokesman said: "Since these proceedings began, the NMC has worked closely with Miss Cafferkey and her representatives to reach an outcome that is fair and meets the public interest in this case. Since the NMC's case examiners considered the allegations and drafted charges, we have received further evidence."

He continued: "The final charges the panel will consider will be determined in light of this new material. A process of ongoing review is part of our normal practice in all cases. Miss Cafferkey and her representatives have co-operated fully throughout this process."

"Currently we are working towards scheduling the case for a panel to consider on September 12," the spokesman added.

Ebola Nurse
Pauline Cafferkey said she was 'forever thankful' for the care she received at the Royal Free Hospital Royal Free Hospital

In July this year, Cafferkey told The Telegraph of the anguish she felt over the unresolved misconduct allegations against her.

Cafferkey who was working in a treatment facility in Sierra Leone at the height of the epidemic, returned to London and then travelled on to Scotland before being diagnosed. She spent almost a month in an isolation unit at London's Royal Free Hospital.

She recovered and was sent home in January 2015. However in October the same year, she fell ill again and it was later found that she had developed meningitis caused by the Ebola virus. Cafferkey was readmitted to hospital for the third time in early 2016 after falling ill again.

Although she is still working, she is no longer doing her old job of home visits as a community nurse as she is unable to drive because of seizures caused by the meningitis.