Allegations that a nursing home covered up falls suffered by residents have been made at a nursing board disciplinary inquiry.
However, the former director of nursing at the home firmly rejected the allegations and described the claims, made by the nurse who is the subject of the inquiry, as “mudslinging”.
‘Nurse A’ faces a number of allegations of professional misconduct and non-compliance with a professional code of conduct at the fitness to practise hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI).
It is alleged she forged a reference letter purporting to be written by the former director of nursing at the nursing home in which she worked.
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It is also alleged she told a nursing agency she still worked in the home, six months after her employment there had ceased.
She denies these allegations, and claims the nursing home made the complaint against her only after she raised concerns about it with the regulator, the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa).
She has also made a series of claims alleging abuse of residents, including the theft of their cash and valuables, and the cover-up of falls suffered by residents.
The inquiry opened in August 2019 and resumed on Friday, after a three-year gap, with evidence from the former director of nursing at the home.
By direction of the NMBI’s fitness to practise committee, neither the witnesses nor the nursing home can be identified.
The former director of nursing told the hearing on Friday that after she finished working at the nursing home Nurse A contacted her by text in September 2016 seeking a reference.
She said she did not provide a reference.
Nurse A, representing herself, claimed the text was “fabricated by a third party” with the assistance of the witness for the purposes of the inquiry.
The witness denied fabricating the text, and asked why she should would do such a thing.
Asked about the reference for Nurse A purportedly signed by the witness, she said she had not written this document.
The reference referred to Nurse A in glowing terms, describing her as sensitive, professional and always willing to volunteer her service.
However, the witness took issue with the content of the document, pointing out that it wrongly referred to “patients” in the nursing home rather than “residents”, and to “medical care” instead of “nursing care”.
The witness also rejected a claim by Nurse A that she ever told staff not to tell families when residents suffered falls.
She pointed out that all members of staff have a duty of care and would have to report falls to Hiqa. She accused Nurse A of trying to “sling mud” and to “bring me down professionally” but said it “wasn’t working”.
Between 2015 and 2017, 12 complaints and other pieces of unsolicited information about the nursing home were received by Hiqa, the inquiry heard.
The hearing will adjourned until November, when some evidence will be heard in private.
