Nurse Who Cut Panic Alarms At Care Home Spared Jail Sentence

A former nurse who admitted tampering with panic alarms at a Scottish care home escaped a jail sentence yesterday. John Cruickshank disconnected emergency alarms at Grove Nursing Home in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, where he was a staff nurse.

On one occasion, a 95-year-old dementia sufferer was left lying on a toilet floor with a broken thigh bone following a seizure. But the woman could not raise the alarm because her buzzer had been disconnected.

Another client, a woman of 88, was discovered sprawled on a floor on more than one occasion after the pressure mat designed to monitor her position was unplugged. Two other patients, one aged 92 and one 87, both of whom had Alzheimer’s disease, were found with personal alarm buzzers disconnected.

Cruickshank, 27, admitted a single charge detailing various occasions on which he disconnected push buttons and pressure pads from the home’s buzzer system over a ten-month period between 1 September, 2004, and 1 June, 2005. The push button and pressure mat alarms were installed to alert staff to patients in danger.

When Cruickshank appeared at Aberdeen Sheriff Court yesterday the procurator-fiscal depute, Ann Macdonald, said Cruickshank had written to the Nursing and Midwifery Board asking them to cancel his registration permanently.

Ms Macdonald told the court the woman, who had dementia and epilepsy, required full-time care and was not to be left alone. “He had left her sitting on the toilet and disconnected her buzzer,” she said. “It is not certain if the woman had the fit before or after she fell. But there was no legitimate reason to disconnect the buzzer system. She had a history of falling.”

The elderly woman was later taken to hospital with a broken femur. As a registered staff nurse, Cruickshank was in charge of the entire home during night shifts and was usually supported by just three care assistants.

Defence advocate Shahid Latif said that Cruickshank, of 93 Kembhill Park, Kemnay, was a “pitiful” individual who lacked the confidence to deal with responsibility. “This was a dark part of his life and sits as a spectre on his shoulder,” said Mr Latif. “It is a matter of profound regret that he stands where he does today.”

Passing sentence, the sheriff, Kenneth Stewart, told Cruickshank he would normally be facing a jail term. “You do not need me to tell you that you were in a position of responsibility – it is difficult to understand how you came to appear before the court,” said Mr Stewart. “However, I am satisfied that this is not the worse case of this type and I take into account that you will never work as a nurse again.”

Mr Stewart sentenced Cruickshank to 240 hours of community service. A spokesman for Mealmore Lodge, the parent company of Grove Nursing Home, said an investigation had begun into Cruickshank’s conduct as soon as a complaint was made. The nurse then resigned.

He added: “The company has already apologised to families and relatives and tried to explain the situation. We cannot justify, but we have done our best to explain the circumstances.”