Shropshire nurse admits putting drugs down the drain at care home
A Shropshire nurse who failed to give elderly residents prescribed drugs and covered it up by creating false records was caught when she fell into a trap set by bosses at the care home where she worked.
Managers at Brookfield House Residential Home in Newport fixed wire mesh to a waste pipe to catch tablets thrown down a sink by Elizabeth Matthews while she was on duty and responsible for patients' medication.
Matthews was then suspended for 18 months by the General Medical Council and has no plans to stay in the profession, Shrewsbury Crown Court was told.
Matthews, who admitted four charges of ill treatment or neglect of a person who lacks capacity by failing to administer prescribed medication, was given an eight-month jail sentence suspended for two years when she appeared at court.
Matthews, 48, of Eastwood Drive in Donnington, Telford, was also ordered to complete 200 hours unpaid work and pay £1,200 costs.
Unhappy
Judge Robin Onions said Matthews had claimed her unhappy working conditions had played a part in her lack of judgement.
But he told Matthews she had been involved in a serious breach of trust as a nurse when she had a responsibility to care for the patients.
The offences related to four elderly women, who cannot be named for legal reasons, who were patients at the residential home. The court heard two of the women were aged 88 and one was aged 96. A fourth woman, who was aged 90, died a week after the incident on April 15 last year.
Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting, said the 90-year-old had been suffering from a chest infection and was on strong antibiotics.
He said that a post-mortem showed she had bronchopneumonia and died from natural causes and there was no evidence the missed doses had either directly, or indirectly, caused the patient's death.
Mr Jones said Brookfield House had some poor inspection reports and new procedures had been put in place. In April last year there were concerns about discrepancies on medication charts.
On April 15, when Matthews was responsible for administering the medication, chicken wire was fitted to a waste pipe and tablets dropped into the sink were later recovered.
The court heard that Matthews, a registered general nurse, had fitted in working at the care home with shifts at the Princess Royal Hospital in Telford.
Mr Michael Grey, for Matthews, said she had felt under pressure, but she accepted making a serious mistake by not recording that the patients had not had their medication.
