Nurse struck off after wheeling frightened dementia patient into cupboard and leaving her there for up to SIX hours
Heather Davies, 55, told an employee to put the woman in another room to stop her disturbing others
A NURSE has been struck off after a terrified dementia patient was left for up to six hours overnight in a dark cupboard.
Ward supervisor Heather Davies, 55, told an employee to push the delirious woman’s bed into another room to stop her disturbing others.
The patient was left “shivering” in a store room and a healthcare assistant alerted Davies, who saw that the woman seemed scared but did not move her.
A healthcare assistant, took Mrs Davies to the room where they saw Patient A had no cot bumpers on her bed and “appeared frightened and was experiencing hallucinations”.
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The assistant reported Davies and an internal probe ruled the room was “unacceptable, dangerous and frightening”.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council said her failure to move the patient was “deplorable” and amounted to misconduct.
A panel said “the privacy and dignity of the patient was compromised”. It ruled that Davies’ fitness to practise was “impaired” and there was a risk of a “repetition” at Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon, Cambs.
Davies, a nurse of 32 years, declined to comment. A hospital spokeswoman confirmed that she had been sacked.
She added: “The care, safety and dignity of our patients is always our primary focus.”
