A Highland care home nurse has been suspended after leaving a dementia patient locked in a freezing cold room overnight.
Lindiwe Malape was told she “failed in the most basic standards of her duty of care” after the incident at Fairfield Care Home in Inverness in June 2014.
She has been suspended for 12 months following a hearing by a Nursing and Midwifery Panel (NMC) disciplinary hearing.
The frail man, who cannot be named, was locked inside a room for more than eight hours, despite needing regular checks.
He was found on the floor with vomit on his clothing and “red marks on the bony parts of his body”.
The man was described as being frail and elderly, as well as suffering from “severe dementia” and at the time of the incident was taking medication to control vomiting.
Miss Malape was not present or represented during her hearing in Edinburgh and the NMC said that several attempts to contact her by post or phone had failed.
It was found that the nurse had failed to take appropriate action to release the patient, including not speaking to a manager or calling out a handyman, locksmith or emergency services.
In a written submission, Miss Malape said that she had made three attempts to contact the home manager and said the only thing she had “missed doing” was contacting the emergency services.
She said the patient’s condition “was quite satisfactory, apart from his known dementia”.
The patient was found wrapped in a quilt against a wall at about 8.30am.
Staff at the care home gave evidence that it had been known the door was locked from about midnight.
Nurse Ann Ferguson-Hannah said they found the resident on the floor and he had been sick and was covered in red marks.
She said Ms Malape “did not appear alarmed or upset”.
She added: “The room was freezing and ‘Patient A’ had pulled all the covers off the bed to try and cover himself.
“The table was overturned, pictures had been pulled off the walls.
“He was sitting very quietly under the window and not making any noise.”
The NMC panel determined that Miss Malape’s fitness to practice is currently impaired.
In its report, the panel said that “Miss Malape failed in the most basic standards of her duty of care to (the patient) who, the panel heard, was one of the most vulnerable in the home”.
She was suspended for the maximum period of 12 months and must face a review if she wants to return to the profession.
