THE family of a nurse who took a fatal overdose after being accused of stealing controlled medicines have blamed Hywel Dda Health Board for her death.

Julie Irving's devastated family claim an investigation report that dropped through her letterbox the day before her death was like "giving her a loaded gun".

Ms Irving, who worked at Prince Philip Hospital, was found dead at her Brodawel home in Burry Port on October 14.

It followed a probe into the theft allegations.

The 47-year-old had been suspended from work on April 22 following two incidents where tablets had gone missing.

Miss Irving had been responsible for the medicine, but her son, David Irving-Roberts, believes there was no evidence to prove she had taken the tablets.

The 22-year-old, from Parc y Minos Street, said: "The night before my mother's death, she arrived at my house in a very distressed state and could not stop crying."

He said they spent hours going through the report before she left in the early hours of the morning.

"It became very clear that my mother felt that she was being victimised," he said.

"I think she felt devastated. She thought her nursing career was over."

The family said Miss Irving had been left in the dark during her suspension and was told not to contact the hospital.

A coroner gave a verdict of accidental death, and a toxicology report found the medical cause of death to be fatal poisoning caused by Paracetamol, codeine, diazepam and citalopram.

Health board chief executive, Trevor Purt, passed condolences to the family and urged them to contact the board if they had any questions.

A board spokeswoman said: "The health board takes allegations of misconduct seriously in order to protect patients, staff and the NHS as a whole.

"Any allegation is therefore investigated in accordance with the health board's disciplinary policy, which fully complies with employment legislation and has been agreed with the trade unions.

"Disciplinary matters are handled as sensitively as possible and all staff are aware of the support which can be provided from the organisation's occupational health service."

For more on this story read this week's Llanelli Star.