Care home nurse struck off after abusing patients (From Darlington and Stockton Times)

Care home nurse struck off after abusing patients

6:06pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in News

A CARE home nurse who abused and attacked frail patients over a six-month period at a care home has been struck off.

Army veteran Martin Finlay, 52, called a dementia and Parkinson’s disease patient an obscene name in front of his wife after being asked to provide painkillers in December 2009.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard Finlay also pushed the man into his room and threw a slipper at him while working at Mount Vale Care Home, in Yafforth Road, Northallerton.

In a separate incident, Finlay pulled another resident's head backwards and pulled the patient’s hair.

Finlay used inappropriate restraint on a string of residents and dragged one along a corridor of the memory unit.

The council heard he was given a convicted of common assault for the attack in June 2010 and handed a three-year conditional discharge.

Finlay also referred to another elderly patient named Dick as “Mr Head” while on duty at the home, which provides respite care and specialises in caring for elderly and physically disabled patients and those with Alzheimer’s disease and sensory impairment.

Tim Hogman, for the NMC, said: “The matter in itself may sound innocuous enough, but perhaps the matter of misconduct becomes clearer when you hear this resident's first name was Richard.

“It was abbreviated to all those on the memory unit as Dick.”

The NMC proved all but two of the charges against Finlay and found his fitness to practise had been impaired by his misconduct.

Finlay did not attend the central London hearing and did not formally admit or deny the six charges he faced.

NMC panel chair Najral Khasru said: “We feel a striking off order is the only appropriate course of action we could take in this instance.

“After assessing the high-quality evidence we received in this instance we felt there was no other alternative for this panel.”

Should Finlay wish to appeal to NMC's verdict, he will be suspended for 18 months or for the duration of that process.

A spokeswoman for Barchester Healthcare, which runs the home, said: “At Mount Vale care home the safety and wellbeing of our residents is of the utmost importance and we take allegations of misconduct very seriously.

“We can confirm that we dismissed a member of staff in 2010 following an internal investigation and coordination with the relevant authorities.

“We respect the privacy of our residents and staff in all matters and are therefore unable to give any further comment.”