A prison nurse jailed for her part in a drug smuggling operation has been struck off. In a separate case, a former prison psychologist has won clearance to return to work.
A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing heard about her role in smuggling goods into HMP Preston. They included cannabis, spice, ketamine, phones and SIM cards. A court jailed her for 20 months in March 2025.
She qualified as a registered nurse in 2013. Her arrest came in December 2023. At the time she was in a van outside the prison. Inside it were drugs, cash and shoes with hollowed-out spaces.
An NMC fitness to practise panel found her conduct fell far short of the standards expected of a nurse. It ruled that her actions were fundamentally incompatible with her staying on the register.
The panel said she had put prisoner patients who could have used the drugs at risk. It found she acted “so as to put patients at unwarranted risk of harm”.
It also found that her criminal conduct brought the profession into disrepute and breached its basic principles. These include acting in people’s best interests, keeping people safe and obeying the law where a nurse practises.
The former nurse said she “fully accepted” that she had “lost a career that I loved and worked extremely hard for, for many years”. She said: “I deeply regret my actions and that I have tarnished an otherwise perfect career and have associated the NMC with my actions, but I have also accepted that I will never again work within healthcare”. She says she now has a new career outside nursing.
Lisa Forgione, an experienced psychologist, cared for a prisoner while working at HMP Isle of Wight. She later had a secret relationship with him, after she had left the prison and the Prison Service.
She sent the “high-risk” prisoner birthday cards with photos of herself in a bikini and images in which she was “completely topless”. She also sent him a Valentine’s Day card from Moonpig.
After allegations came forward, she received a nine-month suspension from practice in December 2025. A ruling has now lifted the bar. She can work as a psychologist again from October.
HMP Preston is a category B reception prison for men in the North West. HMP Isle of Wight is a category B reception prison for men in the South East.
