15th December 2004
NEWS RELEASE
St. Albans Biomedical Scientist struck off by UK health regulator

A biomedical scientist from St. Albans in Hertfordshire has been struck off by the Health Professions Council. William Windo will not be able to continue practising using the legally protected title 'biomedical scientist'.

A panel of the Conduct and Competence Committee met today to consider the case of William Windo at Park House, Kennington.

The Panel considered all the evidence provided both oral and written and also the letter from Mr Windo stating that he seriously regretted the actions that he took last year.

Sandy Yule, Chair of the Panel said... "We find that Mr Windo did take the urine samples from the Trust Laboratory without permission to conduct his own research and he is therefore guilty of misconduct.

Mr Windo has breached the Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics in as much as he:

· Did not have the approval of his managers

· Did not have the approval of the Trust's Ethics Committee

· Did not have the consent if the patients for us of the samples

We have taken into consideration the information submitted by Mr Windo in his letter dated 9th October 2003. However, Mr Windo was informed of the requirements for undertaking a research project and chose to ignore the policies which were explained to him.

Mr Windo has seriously breached the Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics. We did consider suspension but due to the serious nature of the misconduct we did not feel that this was proportionate. In order to adequately protect the public we are instructing the Registrar to remove Mr Windo's name from the Register.

The Panel has also decided to impose an interim suspension order, on the grounds of public protection, to cover the appeal period or, if an appeal is made, until such time as any appeal is dismissed or otherwise disposed of.

The Health Professions Council is a UK wide health regulator set up to protect the public. It sets standards for twelve health professions. The HPC only registers people who meet its standards for their professional skills, behaviour and health, and will take action against people who do not.