Nurse struck off for failed to report care home resident’s fall

A NURSE from New Galloway has been struck off for failing to report a fall which preceded the death of an elderly care home resident.

Andrew Fletcher saw the incident when Margaret Rogerson broke her hip – but failed to tell anyone.

Miss Rogerson, who had dementia, then lay in bed in pain for two days at Goldielea Care Home, Dumfries, before a senior boss called medical help.

She died at Dumfries Infirmary, at the age of 90, four days later following the accident in March 2009. After a report to the Nursing and Midwifery Council by the care home and Miss Rogerson’s family, Fletcher’s case went before a fitness to practice panel.

The two-day hearing in Edinburgh concluded on Tuesday with Fletcher being struck off.

The panel upheld three charges of misconduct against the 50-year-old.

It found that he failed to the complete an accident form after Miss Rogerson fell and that he failed to inform another nurse on a shift changeover and to report it at a second shift handover the following day.

Fletcher did not attend the hearing and has 28 days to appeal. He was unavailable for comment yesterday at his home in New Galloway.

However, last week he said his dismissal “wasn’t inappropriate” and he wouldn’t be going back into nursing.

Miss Rogerson’s case was uncovered by The Galloway News and Standard in June last year during an investigation into care for elderly people in the region. It found a report had been sent to the fiscal on the death but it was deemed not in the public interest to hold a fatal accident inquiry.

After this week’s hearing, Miss Rogerson’s niece, Sheena, said: “We are pleased with the outcome of the case. There are a lot of questions that have still gone unanswered.

“We’d still like to see a public inquiry into this and why there was a breakdown in communication at the home.”