Patient left overnight in her own mess

A nurse who shouted:’She’s sh*tted all over the place’ as he left a patient wallowing in her waste all night has been suspended.

Elizabeth Hutton found the incontinent patient on the floor while working
at the Ribble Ward, a ward for female patients with 19 beds at the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

The patient refused to get up so Hutton left her on the floor, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

The patient had a learning disability, and suffered from physical problems which affected her mobility, speech and personal hygiene.

Hutton did not undertake a risk assessment or check the patient for injuries, and then failed to provide her with a blanket or mattress while she slept overnight.

She also failed to call the mental health nurse, tell doctors, record observations or complete a report.

The next morning the patient was found on the floor, still cold and covered in hardened faeces.

Handing over the nightshift on the morning of November 23 2014, Hutton declared: ‘I tried helping her up but she wouldn’t help us.

‘I’m sorry but we are not breaking our f**king backs.

‘I’m sorry I am not breaking my f***ing back if you want to break yours that is up to you.’

Interviewed after the incident, Hutton said she didn’t put a mattress down because there was no space and she was ‘sincerely sorry.’

Since the incident, Hutton has completed training a series of training courses.

Hutton accepting an eight-month suspension by the NMC.

Accepting the agreement, NMC panel chair David Boden said: ‘Miss Hutton recognises that her conduct on the day in question fell far short of the standards to be expected of a professional nurse.

‘The registrant recognises the gravity of her misconduct, and deeply regrets her actions.

‘The vulnerable nature of the service user; the degrading circumstances in which she was left, semi-naked and surrounded in faecal matter in a cold environment; and the duration of time for which she was left on the floor, are factors which raise the seriousness of Miss Hutton’s misconduct to a level which requires temporary suspension from the register.

‘The panel determined that eight months suspension would adequately reflect the seriousness of Miss Hutton’s misconduct.’

Hutton, who was not present at the hearing in central London, was handed an eight-month suspension order.

Ends