Care home nurse suspended over attempt to cover up errors
However the regulator ruled that her "dishonesty was not at the lower end of the scale and was extremely serious."The three person panel added that her decisions "brought the profession into serious disrepute by your departure from the fundamental tenets" of the profession.
Resident 'in pain and discomfort'
While working the nightshift on 15 May 2021, Mrs Amoabeng was found to have locked a resident in their bedroom for up to 30 minutes, as well as locking other residents in their rooms.This created a "significant risk of potential harm" to the first resident in particular, who was left in an agitated state.She accepted these charges, as well as one that stated she later moved another resident without using a hoist after they fell and suffered a potential fracture - a decision the panel ruled was "not wholly unexpected".Mrs Amoabeng disputed charges that she advised the resident should be left and regular checks should be conducted, and that any decision on whether to call an ambulance be left to the day shift when they arrived for work.However, these charges were proved by the regulator, which found the resident was agitated "because of the pain and discomfort they were experiencing" after the fall, and that an ambulance should have been called immediately. It was only when a care assistant challenged Mrs Amoabeng's decision that an ambulance was called.
'Very serious issues of dishonesty'
Following the fall, she was found to have asked two colleagues on multiple occasions to say the resident had been able to walk to bed.This was found to have "left a profound impact" on two witnesses, who were shocked. Mrs Amoabeng denied this charge but the panel ruled she had committed dishonest actions to create a "misleading impression" of the incident. It stated these were "very serious issues of dishonesty" and her actions "did fall seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse." The panel ruled: "While there is no evidence of actual harm being caused there was a significant risk of unwarranted harm to residents. "Your misconduct had breached the fundamental tenets of the nursing profession and therefore brought its reputation into disrepute."However the regulator ruled the "clinical failings" - meaning the locked room and patient assessment charges - were unlikely to be repeated and that Mrs Amoabeng's most recent manager believed she was "kind, safe, and effective." It found there was a risk of repetition regarding dishonesty, and that her fitness to practice was impaired as a result. The panel decided to impose a suspension order for six months with a review, with a interim suspension order of 18 months in place to cover any appeal period.If no appeal is made the interim suspension order will be replaced by the substantive suspension order 28 days after Mrs Amoabeng receives the hearing decision in writing.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
2 hours ago
- The Sun
I tied flesh back to my bones with string after truck wheel shredded my arm in moped smash…there were bits of me on road
PULLING on her helmet, Charlene Morrissey fastened her harness and swung her leg over the scooter. It was July 2024, and having quit her job as a sales and accounts manager, she was on the adventure of a lifetime in Bali - a dream holiday that quickly turned into a living nightmare. 11 11 While riding her scooter to a local hiking spot, 34-year-old Charlene from Airdrie, Scotland, collided with a truck - and her arm was sucked into its rear wheel. She describes seeing her skin and fat scattered across the roadside in the horrific crash, which severed a main artery and required a 14-hour op that doctors feared she would not survive. She says: 'Looking at my arm after the crash, I could see all the skin, fat, muscle and tendons from my forearm had been peeled back, leaving my bones completely exposed. 'I was panicking and howling in agony, sure I was going to die.' While it might have ended in horror, the start of Charlene's holiday was idyllic. In December 2023, she decided to fly to Southeast Asia alone. Using her savings, she had purchased a one-way ticket to the tropical island, with no immediate plans to return. 'I was staying in a private villa in Canggu,' she explains. 'I spent my time making friends, practising yoga and eating delicious, nutritious food. 'I'd also obtained my motorbike driving licence, so I could learn to ride a scooter. And, with a few lessons, I became a confident rider. 'I was happier than I'd ever been.' I caught brain-swelling virus after snorkelling on holiday After being in Bali for just a few weeks, Charlene met her then-partner, and together they rode all over the island in search of adventure. She says: 'Mount Agung, an active volcano, was on our bucket list and we planned to hike to the summit at sunrise.' 'Searing pain' Packing up their hiking and camping gear into rucksacks, the couple set off on separate scooters for the nearly three-hour ride to the base of the volcano. 'We were about halfway there when the sun began to dip in the sky,' she recalls. 'My boyfriend suggested that we set up camp.' Turning onto a main road in the middle of nowhere, Charlene's boyfriend went first, before she pulled out. At that moment, a huge truck carrying metal rods came hurtling alongside her, going in the same direction. 11 11 11 'As the truck roared along, it felt terrifyingly close, so I slowed and put my feet down to steady myself,' she says. 'That's when the rear of the truck smacked into me. 'Instinctively, I put my right hand up to shield myself. But as the truck sped past, my right arm was sucked straight into the rear wheel arch, knocking me off my bike and dragging me along the ground. 'It all happened so fast and suddenly, a searing pain tore through my arm. 'As blood gushed from the wound, it looked like my arm had been put through a shredder. Chunks of mutilated flesh were splattered on the road.' Unaware of the accident, the truck driver - who was never identified - didn't stop, but Charlene's partner witnessed the horrific collision. She says: 'I lifted my butchered arm and I could see straight through it to my boyfriend, who was rushing towards me.' He carried Charlene to the side of the road where locals raced over to help, dialling emergency services. Charlene recalls: 'My boyfriend was beside himself, so using a piece of camping string I'd found in my rucksack, I tried to tie my skin and fat back onto my arm – but it was no use.' 'Didn't have long left' The ambulance didn't arrive for another hour and a half. 'I begged paramedics to not let me die,' Charlene says. 'They placed my arm on a wooden plank and wrapped it in a towel to help keep it straight and stem the bleeding.' At the hospital, 30 minutes later, doctors offered a grim prognosis, warning that Charlene had severed a main artery in her arm and wouldn't survive. An hour and a half later, the couple were advised to go to Bali International Hospital, which was better equipped to help her. MILLIONS of holidaymakers are missing out on free travel cards that could save them thousands of pounds if they become unwell abroad. Global Health Insurance Cards (GHIC) let you access state healthcare in the European Economic Area and several other countries, on the same basis as a resident of that country. The free GHIC cards replaced European Health Insurance Cards (EHIC) after Brexit. But just 4.6million people applied for a card last year, according to exclusive figures obtained through a Freedom of Information request by Compare the Market. This is 1.1million less than in 2023, when 5.7million cards were issued. But 86.2million people travelled abroad in 2023 alone, which means millions of people are travelling without a GHIC. During this time the NHS spent more than £300million on medical treatment abroad for UK citizens with EHICs or GHICs. In Spain, a trip to A&E can cost around €200 without a GHIC, with extra fees for blood tests, overnight stays and consultations, while a broken bone could cost thousands. Although the GHIC card provides help with necessary medical care, it does not offer the same medical protection as travel insurance. You also cannot use a GHIC to pay for private treatment, evacuation such as mountain rescues or repatriation costs if you need to be flown back to the UK. And some insurers will not pay for a medical claim unless you have a GHIC so it's important that you register for one now to avoid invalidating your insurance. 'Back in an ambulance, I was transferred without painkillers to the next hospital two hours away,' Charlene says. 'By now, I'd lost half my blood supply, and I was sure I didn't have long left. 'I asked my boyfriend to tell my family I loved them before I blacked out.' It was 15 hours later when Charlene woke up in recovery, drifting in and out of sleep as she was heavily medicated. Waking up three days later, she saw that her mum, Kathleen, 54, and sister, Alana, 32, were by her bedside. 'My mum told me she thought she'd lost me,' Charlene says. 'My boyfriend told me that, as soon as we'd arrived at the hospital, I'd been rushed in for emergency surgery, and he'd called my family, who flew over immediately.' 11 11 To save her life, surgeons worked for 14 hours to reattach the flesh, fat, muscle and tendons to Charlene's arm. They also inserted 10 pins into her hand to hold the bones together. 'Due to the massive blood loss, I'd needed five blood transfusions,' she says. 'It was a miracle I'd survived.' Over the next week in hospital, Charlene had several more surgeries to remove gravel from her wounds. Sadly, surgeons weren't able to save her skin and fat, so they did grafts using skin from her left thigh. After three and a half weeks in intensive care, she managed to take her first steps. 'Seeing my arm for the first time, it looked like something out of a horror movie,' Charlene says. 'The skin was black and dying, and the veins and tendons were raw and still exposed. 'Thankfully, over time, the skin grew over.' Charlene, who separated from her partner shortly after, returned to the UK in August 2024. There, she spent another week in hospital before she was discharged. Now, almost a year on and after intense physiotherapy, she's continued to defy the odds. She adds: 'While I don't have feeling in most of my fingers and struggle with simple tasks like using cutlery and brushing my hair, I'm back in the gym doing push-ups, pull-ups and headstands. 'I've even learnt to write again.' In February this year, Charlene moved back to Bali, where she works as an empowerment coach, and in July, she's returning to Mount Agung to finally complete her hike. 'Today I'm sharing my story to empower others to navigate trauma and change their mindset," she says. 'Although my scars took time to get used to, they're a reminder of just how strong I am and for that, I'm forever grateful." 11 11
Daily Mail
14 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Now NHS Fife admits it DID break the law by giving trans doctor access to female changing rooms
A health board has admitted it broke the law after it failed to complete a legally required assessment before letting a trans doctor use the women's only changing room. NHS Fife said it had not completed an equality impact assessment before allowing male-born medic Dr Beth Upton to use the female-only facilities at Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy. The Equality and Human Rights Commission has now ordered the under-fire health board to 'carry one out immediately' in yet another extraordinary intervention. NHS Fife has been plunged into turmoil amid an employment tribunal veteran nurse Sandie Peggie brought against it, in which she has claimed being made to get changed next to the trans-woman was unlawful. The watchdog first wrote to NHS Fife bosses in February, following the first two weeks of the landmark tribunal, to 'remind' them of their obligations under the Equality Act and how they had a duty to 'assess how their policies and practices affect people with protected characteristics'. But this week the EHRC revealed the health board 'failed' to meet the requirement of having a equality impact assessment, which is a legal duty. Tess White, equalities spokesman at the Scottish Conservatives, said the latest revelation showed senior health board bosses must go. The MSP said: 'This damning directive from the EHRC confirms that, on top of being negligent, incompetent and biased, NHS Fife broke the law in relation to the Sandie Peggie case. 'It's just one failure, and one revelation, after another. It's abundantly clear that the positions of the Chief Executive and senior health board colleagues are completely untenable. 'The shameful admission from the health board confirms that Sandie Peggie was hung out to dry from the very beginning of this tawdry scandal simply for standing up for her rights as a woman. 'Fairness and accountability must prevail. Surely John Swinney and his SNP colleagues can no longer retain confidence in those in charge of this dysfunctional health board? 'The First Minister must clear out those at the top of NHS Fife and finally demand that it, and all other public bodies, upholds the clear and unequivocal Supreme Court ruling entitling women to single-sex spaces.' Mrs Peggie had encountered Dr Upton in the female-only changing room in 2023, but had waited outside until the trans-identifying medic left. But on Christmas Eve that year she challenged the junior doctor - the exact circumstances of which are disputed - and was suspended from work and her actions subject to an internal investigation. Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chairman of the EHRC, said all Scottish health boards must comply with the 2010 Equality Act. She said: 'Earlier this year we asked NHS Fife to provide us with information on the provision of single-sex changing facilities for staff and the rights of different groups in the application of these policies. 'At that point NHS Fife confirmed that no equality impact assessment was available. 'Undertaking an equality impact assessment of relevant policies or practices, and publishing the results, are requirements of the PSED [Public Sector Equality Duty] Specific Duties in Scotland. 'We believe NHS Fife failed to meet these requirements and told them to carry one out immediately.' Maya Forstater, chief executive of human rights charity Sex Matters, said: 'This directive to NHS Fife is an unprecedented intervention from the EHRC and the kind of muscle that has been lacking from regulators across the board since gender ideology first took hold of public institutions. 'While long overdue, this is a clear instruction to NHS Fife - and in fact all employers - that it cannot get away with continuing to flout the Equality Act.' An NHS Fife spokesman said: 'We are committed to working constructively with the EHRC to provide assurance that we fully understand, and are meeting, our obligations under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty. 'This includes considering the implications of the recent Supreme Court ruling and the EHRC's interim guidance. 'A comprehensive review and audit of our facilities has been completed, and an Equality Impact Assessment is underway. This will be concluded and published by 30 September 2025. 'Our priority is to ensure that all NHS Fife policies and practices protect the rights of our staff and comply fully with equality legislation.'
The Independent
17 hours ago
- The Independent
Inquiry into rogue surgeon to hold preliminary hearing next month
A public inquiry set up to investigate disgraced surgeon Sam Eljamel will hold a preliminary hearing next month. The Eljamel Inquiry will investigate the activities and oversight of Mr Eljamel, who was appointed by NHS Tayside as a consultant neurosurgeon at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee in 1995 and went on to become head of neurosurgery at the site. In 2013, Mr Eljamel was placed under supervision and later suspended following concerns about the standard of clinical care he was providing to patients. He resigned from NHS Tayside in 2014. Patients of the former neurosurgeon have claimed he harmed as many as 200 people, with some suffering life-changing injuries. The Eljamel Inquiry will determine, among other things, whether patients were let down by failures in clinical governance, risk management, and complaints procedures, and the adequacy of previous reviews. It will also examine to what extent Mr Eljamel's private practice, research, and workload impacted on care received by his patients, and whether, and if so to what extent, Mr Eljamel and NHS Tayside tried to conceal evidence of sub-standard care. The independent public inquiry, chaired by Lord Weir, will hold a preliminary hearing in Edinburgh on September 10 to set out its progress and intentions. Scotland's Health Secretary Neil Gray formally set up the inquiry on April 3, empowering it to begin the process of gathering evidence. To date, Lord Weir has designated applicants including NHS Tayside, 133 former patients of Mr Eljamel and 19 personal representatives of former patients. This group is represented by the legal firm Levy & McRae. The Scottish Government and the University of Dundee are also designated as core participants, as are the Royal College of Surgeons (Edinburgh), Healthcare Improvement Scotland, and NHS Education for Scotland. Members of the public, including former patients, can apply to attend the preliminary hearing in person. Proceedings will also be broadcast live on the inquiry's YouTube channel, and will be available to view later on its website. The preliminary hearing will take place at Waverley Gate in central Edinburgh.
