Four month suspension for abusive Rotherham care home nurse

Hazel Anthea Sharples was sanctioned by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for her conduct while working at the Ten Acre Respite Care Home in Kimberworth.

An NMC panel found that her “fitness to practise was impaired”.

Sharples also failed to report the altercation or that the client had fallen to the floor, the misconduct panel found.

The nurse did not attend the disciplinary hearing in August and was not represented there.

The panel’s findings, which have now been published, said Sharples had been a nurse since 1972.

Ten Acre Respite Care Home offers respite for up to 19 people, who stay for one to five nights at a time.

The client involved in the incident was an autistic man who would hoard newspapers and sometimes “nip clients and staff” at the home, the NMC panel reported.

While his care plan included distracting him to try and avoid these behaviours, it did not include physical restraint.

Last April 11, the man “became fixated with a newspaper which Miss Sharples had brought in” and tried to take it from her, it was alleged.

The nurse then “took hold of the client’s wrists to stop him from taking the newspaper”, when he “lost his balance and fell over”.

Once on the floor, the man “broke loose from Miss Sharples’ grip and nipped her”, the panel heard.

Sharples was accused of grabbing the man again and shouting in his face: “You bas***d.”

She then failed to report this incident, despite being advised to by colleagues, it was alleged.

Two carers who saw the altercation take place and gave evidence at the misconduct hearing were judged to be credible witnesses and the allegations were found proved.

It was also alleged that the incident was “part of a wider poor attitude towards residents”, which included shouting at them to be quiet when they distracted Sharples from watching television — but this allegation was was not upheld by the panel.

Sharples resigned the same month and Ten Acre conducted an internal investigation.

The nurse was invited to a disciplinary hearing, but did not attend.

The panel noted the event was “a brief, isolated event in a 45-year nursing career”.

Sharples was given an interim suspension order for 18 months, during which she can appeal the four-month suspension.