Ex-care manager cautioned at hearing
HOME WAS STUCK IN A ‘CHAOTIC’ STATE, PANEL TOLD
THE former manager of a care home which was put in special measures after inspectors uncovered “significant failings” has appeared before a disciplinary panel.
Andrea Rowe had her registration as a manager cancelled in July 2016 by the Care Quality Commission after a damning report branded Windsor Care Home, in Hebburn, “inadequate”.
A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel heard CQC inspectors found a series of failings that placed residents “at risk of infection, pressure ulcers, asphyxiation and malnutrition”.
But the hearing was told that during this time the home was in “a chaotic state” after the owners increased the number of residents from 43 to 73 in 2015.
In her evidence Rowe said she repeatedly asked for more staff and time for staff training but was told there was “no money”.
Now Rowe has been made the subject of a four-year caution order after the NMC found her actions “placed vulnerable service users with complex needs at unwarranted risk of harm”.
The panel heard that Rowe had been employed at Windsor Care Home from April 2008, and was the registered manager between October 2010 and July 2016.
The CQC carried out unannounced inspections in May and June 2016 after concerns were raised by the council and anonymous whistleblowers.
Inspectors found a string of issues with the medicine management, including residents going long periods without medication, out-of-date medication being used and medication being administered covertly.
The home was put into special measures following the report and Rowe’s registration was cancelled by the CQC.
She has now appeared at an NMC hearing where she admitted not ensuring an “adequate standard of care” for residents.
Specific issues were raised with six residents, including one who was in a wheelchair despite a therapist’s assessment saying it was not safe, and a woman who had baths attempted by staff even though a recommendation in her care plan said they caused her pain.
A report of the hearing said Rowe “accepted responsibility for [her] own shortcomings” but that the home was in “a chaotic state” following the increase from 43 to 73 service users and that she “did [her] best in what were very difficult circumstances”.
Rowe told the panel that since the incidents at the home she has been working as a registered nurse through an agency and has no future intention of practising as a nurse in a managerial capacity.
The panel ruled that the charge was sufficiently serious to amount to misconduct and imposed a caution order for four years.
During that time any employer or prospective employer will be on notice that her fitness to practise has been found to be impaired.
Their ruling said: “In the panel’s view, the failings related to fundamental aspects of nursing practice which placed service users at risk of infection, pressure ulcers, asphyxiation and malnutrition.”
The home was kept in special measures after an inspection in October 2016 but has since been upgraded to ‘requires improvement.’
At the time of the last inspection in May 2017 it was back down to 43 residents.