Hearing into failures at Seaham children’s care home

A NURSE at a children’s care unit has gone before a misconduct hearing after a series of incidents at the home.

Gail Margaret Fraser admitted she left her shift early one evening because she was sick, leaving the Heathway Residential Unit in Parkside, Seaham, without a qualified nurse on duty for about two hours.

The staff nurse also admits failing to enter a full record of an incident, when a boy carried out inappropriate behaviour towards a girl at the unit.

She also admitted failing to promptly tell the girl’s parents about what had happened.

However, she denies failing to inform senior management in the absence of a unit manager about the situation.

The allegations against her also state that in light of the detailed claims, her fitness to practise is impaired because of her misconduct.

When this was put to her, Fraser’s barrister David Bennett told the hearing she would not enter any further admission at the early stage of proceedings.

A three-day hearing began at Durham’s Marriott Hotel yesterday.

It was told the unit offered round-the-clock respite care for up to four children with learning disabilities for three or four nights at a time.

The centre, run by the Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust, is no longer open.

Proceeding