A Walter Mitty nurse has been accused of duping his wife and friends into thinking he was a leading surgeon for eight years.
Kevin O’Flanagan allegedly even put down his job title as orthopaedic practitioner on his marriage certificate on September 4, 2010.
His family and friends were reportedly shocked to discover he was a humble scrubs nurse at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex.
O’Flanagan, who lived in Colchester until 2014, is due to appear before the Nursing and Midwifery Council next month to answer 12 charges.
He is accused of keeping up the lie from 2006 to March 2014.
O’Flanagan, who also goes by the first name of Caven, allegedly kept up the pretence by writing a letter from a colleague.
It offered him a fellowship in Cranio-Facial Maxillary Reconstruction Surgery with a special interest in general orthopaedic trauma in 2013.
However, the charges he faces at the disciplinary panel say the job didn’t even exist.
Instead, it is alleged he made up the offer in order to make others believe he had been offered the position.
O’Flanagan is also accused of lying on social media networking site LinkedIn by claiming he was a clinical lead of head and neck surgery between April 2012 and April 2014.
That breaches the medical council’s rules by misleading people as the job title refers to a doctor and not a nurse.
He has also been charged with claiming and being paid for 42 hospital shifts between March 2013 and December 2013 that he apparently never worked.
O’Flanagan was working at Mid Essex Hospital NHS Trust when the offences are alleged to have taken place.
The trust said: “We can confirm that Mr O’Flanagan did work for the Trust, but due to the upcoming Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing in August, we are unable to make any further comment at this time.”
They added that O’Flanagan no longer worked for the trust but refused to say how his employment had come to an end or if he had ever been investigated over the claims.
It is thought he left in December 2014.
He will appear before the Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing in London on August 8 in a hearing is expected to last five days.
