“17 Minutes After Death: Nurse Caught Using Dead Patient’s Bank Card at Hospital Vending Machine”

Seventeen minutes after an 83-year-old patient was pronounced dead, his bank card was used — not by a stranger, but by a healthcare assistant working on the same ward.In January 2021, Ayesha Basharat was on duty at a Covid ward in Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham, England. The patient’s time of death was officially recorded at 1:56 p.m.At approximately 2:13 p.m., Basharat used the deceased man’s bank card at a hospital vending machine. She made six separate £1 purchases of snacks and drinks.

Later that same evening, she used the card again for another £1 purchase.Four days later, she returned to work and attempted to use the card twice more. By then, the patient’s family had already canceled it. The police were called, and Basharat was arrested at the hospital — with the bank card still in her possession.Although the amounts involved were small, the reaction to the crime was about something far bigger.Basharat later pleaded guilty to theft and fraud by false representation at Birmingham Crown Court. She was sentenced to two five-month jail terms, to run concurrently.

However, both sentences were suspended for 18 months, meaning she did not serve any immediate prison time.Police and hospital officials described the act as an “abhorrent breach of trust.” For the victim’s family, learning that their loved one’s bank card had been taken and used just minutes after his death added another painful layer to an already devastating loss.Healthcare workers are placed in positions of immense trust — especially during the Covid pandemic, when families were often unable to be present with their loved ones in their final moments.