HORTON: STAFF SCARED TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST ‘RACE HATE’ NURSES

Staff who worked alongside two nurses accused of staging a campaign of racist abuse were too terrified to speak out, a hearing was told.

Susan Horton and Sarah Cullum made racist remarks about patients on a ‘daily basis’ but colleagues were afraid it would get back to the ward sisters if they made a complaint, it was said.

The pair are facing a misconduct hearing before the Nursing and Midwifery Council in central London over the allegations, which relate to their time at St Mary’s Hospital in Kettering.

Healthcare assistant Leisl(CORR) Haddon told the panel she had also heard Horton refer to patients as ‘it’, ‘that’ and ‘parasites’ on a regular basis.

‘She would call them parasites if they had been with us for some time,’ she said.

‘I can’t remember any specific incidents as she would say words to that effect on a regular basis on the ward.

‘She would also say: “I don’t suppose they have those in the jungle”.’

She said been unhappy about an incident in July 2007, where Horton gave a dementia patient a ‘telling off’ after he knocked over a jug of water.

‘We were not happy,’ she told the panel.

‘But we all felt unable to express these feelings as you never knew who you could trust on the ward.

‘I was sure that if I reported an incident it would get back to Mrs Horton and Mrs Cullum.’

The panel was old Horton had dumped a copy of the trust’s disciplinary policies on a colleague’s desk and told her ‘I hear there’s been some bullying on the ward’ following a similar complaint.

Ms Haddon said she had not seen either of the two neglect or force feed patients, but said of Horton: ‘I found that she would treat certain patients with a complete lack of compassion.’

In cross-examination, John Lynch, for Horton, told her: ‘She was a professional who didn’t yse these type of terms other than in the manner you or I would use it when talking about matters.

‘It wasn’t in a derogatory way.’

Ms Haddon replied: ‘Yes, it was.’

Staff nurse Michelle Rowe, who also worked on the hospital’s Ian Bennett ward, said she had heard Horton and Cullum make similar remarks on a ‘daily basis.’

‘They often made derogatory comments,’ she told the panel.

‘Mrs Cullum would infer that other staff members had made mistakes because they were black.’

Cullum and Horton are facing a total of 77 charges – the majority of which relate to racism and are said to have taken place ‘in or around June 2007’.

Among the charges, they are accused of doing monkey impressions while discussing a black colleague and referring to the woman as a ‘gorilla’ in front of other staff members.

If found guilty of misconduct they could be kicked out of the profession.

The hearing continues.
ends