A former north care home boss has been sanctioned by a health watchdog over his treatment of a patient.
John Charters was found by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) to have failed to check that one of his patients had swallowed the medication he had been given at Grandview House Care Home in Grantown on February 9, 2014.
The NMC deemed it not severe enough to qualify as misconduct – but it did sanction him for a second admitted charge in which he failed to check the same patient’s weight and implement a programme to make sure he was eating.
It is understood that Mr Charters is considering appealing the panel’s ruling.
Mr Charters, who was deputy manager at the facility, has previously been cleared by the same watchdog of a number of charges – including describing a resident of being “here to die anyway”.
However, he has now been found in breach of guidelines over the treatment of a “frail” patient at the care home between January 30 and February 19.
An NMC hearing this month found that Mr Charters did not stay and check that a patient had swallowed paracetamol, ranitidine and dihydrocodeine which he had been administered.
The nurse also admitted that he did not implement a food and fluid chart or the same patient and did not weigh him or ensure he was weighed by other members of staff.
The man, who is referred to only as “Patient One”, had been admitted to the home on January 30 of that year and died at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness of acute kidney failure and pneumonia on February 19.
There is nothing in the report which made any link between the patient’s death with his care at Grandview House.
The panel heard evidence that, as deputy manager, Mr Charters was given responsibility for improving care plans for residents across the home, which meant the majority of his work took place in the “back office” away from day to day care of residents.
It also emerged that Mr Charters had apologised to the family in relation to the charge he had admitted and had provided insight into his behaviour.
However, the panel found that his fitness to practice is currently impaired and imposed a conditions of work order applicable for the next 12 months whereby Mr Charters must work under the supervision of a line manager, and a number of other conditions.
He no longer works at Grandview House and is understood to be currently working outwith the nursing profession.
Mr Charters had previously faced 14 charges relating to his conduct over an eight month period at the home, but the NMC found 10 of the charges not proven earlier this year, mainly due to inconsistencies in evidence from staff and the absence of records from the time of the alleged incidents.
Of the four charges against Mr Charters which were proven, none were deemed by the panel to amount to misconduct.
