BLADES: SHAMBOLIC RECORD-KEEPING COULD HAVE PUT CHILDREN AT RISK

Domestic violence against young children could have gone unnoticed because of the ‘chaotic’ record-keeping of a health visitor, a hearing was told today (Fri).

Beverley Blades, 53, failed to record basic details from home visits to eight infants, including  vaccinations, weight and test results, the Nursing and Midwifery Council ruled.

The shambles were unearthed after a co-worker spotted him adding entries to the files of two foster children he had seen weeks earlier before an urgent care meeting.

Blades is now facing the possibility of being struck off the nursing register after being found guilty of a string of charges by the NMC.

He has been cleared of several charges, including an allegation that he took the records of 144 patients home with him, and another in which he was accused of falsifying dates in relation to a child referred to as Patient K.

The case relates to his actions while working for the Norfolk NHS Primary Care Trust at the Acle Medical Centre, in Acle, near Norwich, between August 2005 and September 2006.

Giving evidence to the panel, his then manager Julia Whiting said his records were so poor that it was almost impossible to understand the background to his cases.

She said: ‘There could be underlying issues that you are not aware of.

‘There may be issues with the child – developmental issues, if they weren’t reaching their milestones.

‘Or there could be issues in the home – there could be domestic violence.

‘The theory is that somebody would be able to come along, look in the filing cabinet, and know what was happening.

‘The concern in this case was that could not have happened and that was very worrying.’

She added that on multiple occasions he had neglected to write up ‘new birth’ visits to parents who had had a child between 10 and 14 days previously – including for a family with triplets.

‘I don’t know whether there was a risk to that family, but potentially there could have been,’ she said.

‘It is the first visit the health visitor makes to that family – somebody coming in would have no idea what’s been found at that visit.

‘The only way somebody would be able to know is by contacting the family and coming to see them.’

A ‘considerable number’ of visits to two-year-old toddlers were going unrecorded, she said.

‘It was a chaotic situation.’

The panel previously heard from co-worker Pamela Lambert, who said she had been due to attend a meeting about two foster children assigned to Blades on September 27, 2006, because he was off on sick leave.

But the day before it was due to take place she found him in her office at the Brundall Medical Centre, in nearby Brundall, adding entries to their records, the panel was told.

It emerged that the new records were based on visits he had made on September 7 and 8.

‘I told him I could not rely on notes that had been written so long after the visit,’ she said, adding that she had been forced to attend the case conference with no notes as a result.

Asked if Blades had been unable to cope with his caseload, Ms Whiting said: ‘I absolutely don’t think that that caseload would’ve been any more stressful than any other caseload – it was well within recommendations of size and wasn’t heavy in terms of child protection.’

The panel is to make a ruling on whether Blades’ fitness to practise is impaired.

If they rule it has been, he would face sanctions ranging from a formal warning to a striking-off order permanently banning him from the profession.

The hearing continues

ends