An Orkney nurse who administered insulin six hours late to two patients before faking records to cover her tracks is at risk of being struck off.
Community nurse Linda Scott was assigned to visit St Rognvald House in Kirkwall to provide medication for residents.
Following a hearing this month, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has found that on November 14, 2018 she had exposed “elderly and vulnerable” patients to a “significant risk” of harm.
The panel described her actions as “repeated and calculated” – adding that they “ranked highly on a spectrum of dishonesty”.
While Mrs Scott was found to have demonstrated “some remorse” for her actions, it was also heard she had attempted to deflect some blame on to others who she felt had not supported her properly on the day.
Concerns initially raised by nurse
Mrs Scott was required to visit St Rognvald House on November 14, 2018 to provide insulin to Patient X and Patient Y at 8.20am and 8.25am.
During a lunchtime handover, she was asked if the patients had received their dosage – she replied indicating they were “fine”.
However, the longstanding nurse had not attended the home by that point and concerns grew among another nurse that the insulin had not been provided.
The suspicions were reported to the clinical team lead for community nursing, who is identified in the report as Ms 1.
Ms 1 visited the Kirkwall home and spoke to Patient X, who reported receiving their insulin after lunch that day. Patient Y was not spoken to because they did not have the capacity to remember.
It was later established the insulin was actually administered at 2.30pm and 2.45pm.
Faking the records
Initially, Mrs Scott insisted she had administered the insulin at the correct time but had returned to the home later in the afternoon to sign the records saying she had been too busy in the morning.
However, she eventually admitted to Ms 1 that she had provided the medication to both patients in the afternoon – falsifying both the medical records and visitors signing-in book at the home to cover her tracks.
In evidence given by Mrs Scott in November 2019 she said she was unaware she had been due to provide insulin to the patients.
She said: “I didn’t know these patients had been allocated to me. I did imply I had visited the two patients. I then chose to attend and to their delayed care needs.”
Risk of being struck-off
Ahead of the NMC hearing, Mrs Scott had informed the panel she would be unable to attend.
However, because she had been sent all the evidence relating to the matter and had been given an opportunity to respond to it was decided to proceed.
The panel decided Mrs Scott’s fitness to practise was currently impaired.
It was decided that a striking-off order was the only suitable decision due to the effect of her actions in “bringing the profession into disrepute”.
The decision notice read: “The panel is of the view that there are no practical or workable conditions that could be formulated, given the nature of the charges in this case.
“Whilst the panel noted that there may be some identifiable areas of retraining for Mrs Scott to embark on, it considered that there may be an underlying attitudinal issue present in this case, and that this may prevent Mrs Scott from fully appreciating the significance of her actions and the impact they had on patients, colleagues, the nursing profession and the wider public.”
It added: “Mrs Scott had only offered limited evidence by way of insight into her misconduct, as well as little attempt to alleviate any outstanding concerns in respect of her general nursing practice.”
An 18-month suspension order was imposed. If Mrs Scott does not appeal within 28 days then she will be struck off.
An NHS Orkney spokeswoman said: “We welcome the decision of the NMC, NHS Orkney prides itself on our standards of care which is why we made the initial referral to the NMC”.