Rotherham nurse with 'attitude problems' banned

Alison Allen was struck off the nursing register after a disciplinary panel heard how she repeatedly mistreated residents at Queens Care Home in Maltby, including deliberately seating one woman where the emergency call buzzer was out of reach.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel decided on the strongest possible sanction after a string of charges against Allen were found proved at a hearing in Edinburgh.

Panel chairman Clive Powell said: “Ms Allen’s actions were appalling and distressing and as such amounted to a serious breach of the trust that the home, residents, families and colleagues had placed in her.

“The panel is of the view that Ms Allen’s conduct demonstrated a serious departure from the standards expected of a registered nurse.

“We had no hesitation in concluding that Ms Allen's behaviour constituted serious misconduct.”

Many of the charges found proved relate to an unnamed resident referred to in the hearing as Resident A, including that Allen:

Refused to enter Resident A’s room when there was a “strange” noise coming from it.

On more than one occasion refused to provide any care to Resident A.

Failed to check on the resident after a fall and “instructed the team leader from the doorway.”

Told a colleague: “You see that woman, I hate her, she terrifies me.”

Allen was heard by two colleagues referring to Resident A as “a witch”, while another said: “Ms Allen states that Resident A gives her the creeps and she is afraid of her.”

One witness said: “If Resident A was even within Ms Allen’s line of sight, the carer with Resident A would be told to ‘Get that woman out of my sight".”

Allen was also found to have repeatedly mistreated another woman, referred to as Resident B, by:

• Refusing to allow staff to take her to bed until after everyone else had been dealt with and staff had finished their cleaning duties.
• Forcing her to walk to the lounge despite the fact this caused her physical discomfort, took 20 minutes and involved negotiating four sets of fire doors.
• Removing or instructing staff to remove the resident from her bed and place her in a chair where she had no access to her call bell or her Zimmer frame.

One witness stated that “Ms Allen would not allow any of the staff to transport Resident B in a wheelchair and would shout at any staff who tried.”

Another care assistant said in a statement: “Ms Allen would also deliberately remove the buzzer from Resident B’s reach, winding up the cord so she could not reach it.

“Resident B could therefore be sat in her chair from 12.30am until 7am.”

Allen was also found to have instructed staff not to attend another resident, referred to as Resident C, until they had put everyone else to bed and finished cleaning duties and told them to ignore this resident’s calls.

The panel also heard that Allen falsely claimed that one resident and told a colleague that if she saw another particular member of staff she would “stab her.”

Another claim that Allen told staff that if Resident A became unwell she would not treat her directly and would give instructions from the doorway instead, was found not proved, as were two charges relating to further mistreatment of Resident B.

Allen started work at Queens Care Home in March 2007 and was promoted to sister in May 2009, with three care assistants and a team leader working under her.

Six months later, a care assistant raised concerns about her to the home manager but the manager put the complaint down to “a clash of personalities”, but she was sent a letter the following month detailing several concerns.

Allen was suspended in December 2009 and resigned a month later, although she said that her resignation “in no way represented any admission of wrong-doing.”

The nurse, who did not attend the hearing and was not represented, has a month to appeal the decision.

But Ms Stotesbury told the panel that Allen ,who was accused of “deep-seated attitudinal problems” — had said in a statement: “I will never again work, in any capacity, within the health sector.”

The panel praised the “determination” of a care assistant referred to as Ms 1 for reporting the incidents.