JESUOROBO: CARE HOME MANAGER ALLOWED UNTRAINED NURSE TO CARE FOR PATIENTS

A dishonest care home manager allowed foreign nurses who had not completed their training to look after vulnerable elderly patients, a hearing was told.

Grace Jesuorobo signed false declarations stating the workers had completed the necessary 400 hours of supervision, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

Adaptation students – nurses who have worked abroad but not yet qualified in Britain – were left to care for 120 dementia sufferers as a result of Jesurobo’s fraudulent activities, it was aid.
 
Jesuorobo allowed another nurse, Prosper Akpemado, to care for patients at the Mornington Hall Care Home in Whitta Road, Manor Park, east London, when he was not eligible to work in the UK.
 
The allegations, between June 1, 2004 and November 2, 2006, came to light after a probe revealed the students were not on the payroll, when they should have been.
 
Louise Culleton, for the NMC, told the tribunal: ‘Mornington Hall is a purpose built home designed specifically to meet the needs of about 120 patients, offering residential nursing and dementia care. 
 
‘The NMC’s case is that the adaptation students for which Ms Jesuorobo signed forms never actually did satisfactory supervised practice at the home.
 
‘Adaptation nurses have completed their original training outside the UK and then seek to register in Britain.
 
‘Such nurses must complete a period of supervised practice for a minimum of 400 hours over three months.
 
‘Ms Jesourobo signed forms declaring that the individuals, collectively referred to as Schedule A, had completed the required supervised practice and were professionally competent, when in fact they hadn’t.
 
‘She also signed forms for another group of people, identified as Schedule B, after she was suspended from her position as home manager.
 
‘Each of these forms indicated the applicant had completed a satisfactory placement at Mornington Hall, employed as an adaptation nurse, according to a necessary amount of supervision and mentorship set out in NMC guidelines.
 
‘The person who completes these forms must ensure the applicant is assessed for their ability to function as a registered nurse.
 
‘It is the NMC’s case that the Schedule A group of individuals did not go through the process of supervised practice.
 
‘The adaptation students would have been on the payroll because they should have been being paid, but there was no evidence that for those on Schedule A.
 
‘If they didn’t, then Ms Jesuorobo was not in a position to declare them competent.
 
‘The NMC’s case is that the Schedule A students had not undergone placements at Mornington House and Ms Jesuorobo actions were dishonest and fraudulent.’
 
Schedule A students were also not listed on staff rotas between January 1, 2004 and December 31, 2006, at the home, run by Bupa, Ms Culleton said.
 
A staff nurse also told the internal investigation that he had never come across any of the names listed on Schedule A.
 
‘In any event there was evidence that Mornington House should not have been accepting adaptation students post 2005, as they were not on one of the special homes to do so.
 
‘But Ms Jesuorobo also failed to comply with an instruction to stop taking adaptation students in 2005,’ she told the hearing. 
 
Jesuorobo was suspended on September 8, 2006 but resigned before the investigation could conclude.
 
The tribunal heard she signed forms for three individuals in Schedule B between October 23 and November 1, 2006, while she was suspended and should not have been undertaking any work duties.
 
Turning to the charges relating to Prosper Akpemado, Ms Culleton added: ‘The document that should have been on file to demonstrate his ability to work in the UK was a passport with a stamp demonstrating he had student status, if he didn’t have a work permit.
 
‘This should have been accompanied by a supporting letter.
 
‘But when Mr Akpemado’s file was inspected during an investigation, his passport showed his student status had expired on August 31, 2006, and there was no supporting letter on file.
 
‘Ms Jesuorobo was made aware of this on August 8 and was aware he must not work at the home until he had provided suitable documentation.
 
‘She failed to ensure he didn’t work at the home from that date onwards and he was allowed to work for some 42 hours of more afterwards, and as home manager, this was her responsibility.’
 
Jesuorobo admits signing the forms for Schedule B students while she was suspended but denies all other charges.
 
If her fitness to practice is deemed to be impaired, she could be suspended or struck off.  
 
The hearing continues.
ENDS