Childcare boss accused of using bogus prescriptions to get opioids

A childcare director has been accused of fraudulently using staff Medicare numbers to get prescriptions for Panadeine Forte, a strong pain medication containing the opiate codeine, from different doctors in NSW’s Hunter region.

Hayley Challita was the director of Edukare Childcare and Preschool in Muswellbrook between April 2024 and March 2025. Four former staff members allege Challita used their Medicare numbers to obtain multiple prescriptions.

EduKare has been contacted for comment, and the centre is not accused of wrongdoing. Challita did not respond to request for comment.

The Herald has sighted eight prescriptions that four former colleagues say were obtained in their name but not at their request shortly after Challita asked for their Medicare details via text message, which was also sighted by this masthead.

Several colleagues, including a fifth staff member, also provided text messages from Challita purportedly asking them to give her Panadeine Forte from their own or their family’s prescriptions.

Paige Roy, an educator at the centre, said that a few weeks into Challita starting as director, she asked her for her Medicare number to “update employment records”.

“She said [the owner] was updating our portfolios on the company’s childcare management system ... I just didn’t think anything of it,” she said.

Text messages between the pair allegedly show Challita asking for Roy’s Medicare card on multiple occasions. Challita used excuses including getting a new phone, updating Roy’s emergency information and updating the staff management system.

Other staff said Challita told them the details were necessary to meet regulatory standards.

Roy said Challita was friendly, good with children and developed close relationships with staff, including herself, but she seemed to have pain issues requiring medication constantly.

“It would be as simple as breaking an acrylic nail off, and she’d come and ask [for medication],” she said.

Roy said Challita also asked her in person for Endone, a more powerful opioid, prescribed to her father for a work injury. She discovered the alleged fraud after another staff member instructed her to review her Medicare records.

The records, sighted by this masthead, show prescriptions for Panadeine Forte twice in August last year and once in March this year, which Roy said she never visited a doctor about or picked up from the pharmacy.

“I was shocked, and I was upset because [Challita and I] were close,” she said.

Another prescription sighted by this masthead listed Challita’s phone number under another person’s name.

Roy and the three other staff members who requested anonymity reported the fraud to the police.

One staff member said she suspected Challita was using her card after receiving notifications about doctors’ appointments she hadn’t booked, and noticing Challita had left at the same time as the appointment.

When she checked her records, she found two prescriptions for Panadeine Forte that she didn’t recognise. She told other staff to check their records.

“I went through a very bad mental state,” she said. “I lost sleep. I was wondering what else she was stealing from me – she had our tax file numbers, our bank details — what else had she tried to get in our names?”

Another worker said she found a prescription for paracetamol/codeine dispensed in a suburb far from where she lived.

“In my messages, I noticed Hayley asked me to send my Medicare details and date of birth two days before the prescription was dispensed,” the worker said.

“She said [she needed the details] for her files. It didn’t click with me. I had no clue.”

Challita was stood down from EduKare in March.

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