Snoring nurse suspended from care home

A nurse who was recorded snoring when she should have been looking after elderly and infirm residents at a care home has been suspended for a year.

Carole Spencer, 55, also allowed staff at the Bessingby Hall Residential Nursing Home in Bridlington, East Yorkshire, to sleep during working hours until being exposed by a whistleblower, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.

Spencer, who had worked at the home since October 2006, would “usually” nod off at around 1am and would often be joined by other nurses and care assistants.

On one occasion the night of 18 January 2008 every single member of staff took a nap at the same time.

Spencer was eventually caught out after a care assistant took a photograph of her sleeping at the home and recorded her snoring.

After being reported to managers, Spencer complained she was being “singled out” and claimed “they all do it”.

In a letter to the NMC, Spencer wrote that she had “no cares” about the case and denounced the accusations as “lies”.

Panel chairman Winsome Levy said: “She was in charge of night shifts in a care home, with up to 51 elderly, vulnerable patients.

“Some of them were terminally ill, two were unconscious, and they all needed constant care.

“Sleeping whilst on duty and allowing staff whom she was supervising to sleep could have had serious consequences for her patients.

“She has consistently denied the allegations, and has shown no insight, regret or remorse.

“She continues to seek to blame others.”

Spencer could return to work only if she “changed her attitude, showed insight, and remedied her practice”, she added.

Spencer, from Bridlington, was found guilty of sleeping on duty between September 2007 and February 2008, and of allowing staff to sleep between 4 October 2006 and 20 February 2008.

She did not attend the central London hearing.