A former nurse at Stevenage's Lister Hospital has been suspended.

Rita Josephine Hand has been given an 18-month interim suspension order by the Nursing and Midwifery Council while concerns about her are investigated.

She became a nurse in 1987, before qualifying as a midwife in 1990 and as a prescribing nurse in 2007.

The East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust, which runs Lister, has confirmed Rita is no longer employed by them.

Details of the investigation are not yet public, but an interim suspension is an urgent measure and its main purpose is to protect the public.

The NMC says an interim suspension is imposed in cases where "concerns about a nurse or midwife's practice are so serious that either patient safety would be put at risk, or there would be serious damage to the reputation of the nursing and midwifery professions if they were allowed to practise without any restrictions."