Amanda Maison
Introduction
Amanda Maison is an operating department practitioner who was suspended from the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) register for six months in January 2026, after a conduct panel found she had walked out of an operating theatre while a high-risk patient was under sedation — against the consultant surgeon’s express instruction and carrying the controlled-drug cabinet keys — and had shouted and pointed at a colleague during a disagreement over drug checks. The case was decided in her absence, and her suspension was extended for a further six months at a review in June 2026, with the panel warning that striking off remains an option if remediation does not become meaningful. The decisions appear on MedicWatch and the official HCPTS hearings site, and she is listed among suspended practitioners on MedicWatch’s suspensions list.
Background Information
Maison is an experienced operating department practitioner. The two incidents found proved both occurred in early 2022. On 8 February 2022 she pointed her finger at and shouted at a colleague, saying she did not want to check drugs with “a random ODP” and that it was the colleague’s job to do drug checks with her. On 14 March 2022 she left the operating theatre while a service user was on the table under sedation, without telling the anaesthetist or any other colleague where she was going or when she would return, acting against the express instruction of the consultant surgeon, and she left with the controlled-drug cabinet keys in her possession. The panel later found she must have realised how important her role was in supporting the anaesthetist at that moment.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Left a sedated patient on the table, with the drug keys. Both particulars were found proved and both were found to amount to misconduct.
The March 2022 walkout was the core of the case. The patient concerned was an ASA 3 classification — a high-risk patient — under so-called twilight sedation on the operating table at a critical moment. By leaving without telling anyone where she was going or when she would be back, and without handing over the controlled-drug cabinet keys, Maison left the surgical team without an ODP at a dangerous juncture: the panel found the team had to reorganise quickly to cover her absence, in breach of the standards requiring practitioners to work in partnership with colleagues for the benefit of service users. The panel treated the departure against the consultant surgeon’s express instruction as an aggravating feature rather than a detail.
The HCPC served notice of the final hearing by email on 2 October 2025. Maison did not attend, and the panel, satisfied she had voluntarily absented herself, heard the case in her absence over 6 to 19 January 2026. It found both particulars proved, found the conduct amounted to misconduct, and found her fitness to practise impaired. The panel’s public reasons record that a high-risk, sedated patient was left without the practitioner whose support the anaesthetist depended on, and that shouting at and pointing at a colleague over who should perform a drug check struck at the cooperative conduct theatres require.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The panel imposed a six-month suspension order and a six-month interim suspension covering the appeal period. At the review on 23 June 2026 the panel found her fitness to practise still impaired on personal and public grounds: it acknowledged her engagement and some developing insight, but found limited reflection on the impact of her conduct on patients and colleagues and insufficient supporting evidence of remediation. It extended the suspension for six months from 9 August 2026 and stated that striking off was disproportionate only at that stage because of her continued engagement and attempts to meet the original panel’s recommendations — while recording that a future panel could consider striking off if meaningful remediation was not demonstrated. Neither striking off nor voluntary removal was ordered at the review.
Current Status
Maison’s suspension, originally imposed in January 2026, now runs to early February 2027 under the June 2026 extension, with the case returning to a panel before that expiry. She remains suspended from HCPC-registered practice. The public record spans three decisions: the January 2026 final hearing and interim order, and the June 2026 review, all published on the HCPTS hearings site and on MedicWatch. A panel reviewing the case next will expect documented remediation addressing patient safety in theatre, working relationships, and the insight the review panel found still limited.
Impact on Their Career/Life
Maison has not practised as a registered ODP since the suspension regime began, and the extension signals that the regulator’s patience is finite: the review panel’s language — insufficient evidence of remediation, striking off available to a future panel — converts her next review into a de facto final chance. Walking out on a sedated high-risk patient while holding the keys to the controlled-drug cabinet is the kind of finding that follows a theatre practitioner permanently, regardless of the outcome of future reviews. The determinations remain permanently searchable on public registers and independent records such as MedicWatch.
Sources
- “HCPTS extends Amanda Maison’s suspension after theatre-conduct review, MedicWatch” source
- “Amanda Maison — Interim restrictions imposed · 19 January 2026, MedicWatch” source
- “Amanda Maison — final hearing, HCPTS hearings” source
- “Amanda Maison — review, HCPTS hearings” source
- “Suspensions, MedicWatch” source