Nursing home care worker ‘found asleep’ while on duty

THE daughter of a patient in a nursing home found a care worker asleep in the kitchen on a bed she had made from two chairs, the Workplace Relations Commission has heard.

The woman had sought the worker in an emergency, and said she found it difficult to wake the care worker to alert her to help her mother.

She said she had to find another worker, who got a nurse on duty without delay. The sleeping carer was one of two carers and one nurse looking after 23 patients during the night duty. The WRC also heard the care worker had failed to respond to numerous call bells from residents who needed help on the night.

An investigation by the nursing home into the matter relied on CCTV footage showing the female worker taking two chairs and removing them from the view of the camera. She remained out of view for around two hours and could not have left that area without being seen on CCTV, according to WRC adjudication officer Andrew Heavey.

She claimed to have been reading a book on her break during this time. However, Mr Heavey noted that there was no reason to move chairs out of view, and that her break had been only one hour long.

In addition, the daughter of a patient at the nursing home had reported finding the care assistant asleep in the kitchen.

The worker was dismissed with effect from June 2, 2017, following the conclusion of the investigation. She had worked for the nursing home for almost ten years.

The care worker complained to the WRC that her dismissal was the result of a flawed disciplinary process. She also disputed that she had been asleep on duty. Mr Heavey dismissed these complaints and found that she was not unfairly dismissed.

Claimed she was reading during break