A new date has been set for the hearing of a Highland care home boss who was accused of describing residents as being “here to die”.
John Charters faces 14 charges relating to an eight month period as deputy manager at Grandview House Care Home in Grantown.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) has already heard claims that Mr Charters went to watch television while an elderly woman was “screaming in pain” after falling in the home’s reception area.
The Nairn man’s hearing began in February but was adjourned on its first day after the BBC incorrectly reported that he had been struck-off.
His defence argued the story may influence witnesses, and asked for an adjournment to enable him to gauge the impact of the report.
The hearing will now resume on Monday, April 11 in Edinburgh.
Before the adjournment witness Kathleen Girvan – a care assistant at the home at the time – told the NMC panel about an incident involving a frail elderly lady, known only as Resident 11, who had fallen over in reception at home.
She said: “The resident had fallen and was screaming in pain. Mr Charters completed his observations and called an ambulance, then went and sat in the main lounge.
“I went and made sure she was comfortable by placing a pillow under her head. Mr Charters had disappeared – when I asked another carer where he was they told me he was watching TV.”
It is alleged Mr Charters did not ensure Resident 11’s “dignity was maintained” after she fell, in that he failed to ensure a screen was placed around her and did not move residents away.
Mrs Girvan detailed a time when Mr Charters was helping her change the catheter for a female suffering from dementia.
It is alleged that while performing the procedure, Mr Charters slapped the resident on her bare bottom and said: “I’ll be your Samson if you be my Delilah”.
Mrs Girvan described another time when Mr Charters allegedly forced an old lady to sit down when she was taking too long.
The care assistant also alleged in her witness statement that Mr Charters allegedly refused to let a pensioner go to bed, despite his discomfort at being in a wheelchair all day.
But during the earlier hearing, representatives of Mr Charters put it to Mrs Girvan that the claims were “simply not true” and that she had “made them up”.
In July 2016, Mr Charters was cleared to work again after the NMC found 10 of the charges not proven. Of the four charges which were proven, none were deemed by the panel to amount to misconduct. See our story here.
