Bellshill carer cleared in Bupa abuse probe

A CARE worker spoke this week of her ordeal after being wrongly accused of assaulting an elderly resident in a nursing home. Libby Watson wept tears of joy as a sheriff cleared her of any wrongdoing.

She then told how she lost her job and suffered months of stress through the false accusation.

Libby (24), of Kirklee Road, Mossend, said the allegation against her was made after SHE reported a senior colleague for abusing a resident at Hatton Lea Home in Bellshill.

Now she’s taking her former employers BUPA to an industrial tribunal for wrongful dismissal.

Sheriff Ray Small dismissed the evidence of two workers – Margaret Hutchison and Morag McGuinness – who claimed they witnessed the assault despite being in another conservatory some distance away.

Libby told her solicitor, Jim O’Dowd, that the pair had plotted with others to make up evidence against her in revenge for her allegation against a nurse some weeks previously.

After the verdict Libby said: “I loved my job at Hatton Lea, but what I went through after reporting this person was horrific.

“All I did was put one hand behind the old lady’s back for support and took hold of her hand as I helped her to her bedroom. However, it was obvious that I had been set up and the witnesses lied.

“A colleague who gave evidence for me was in the same room – unlike the two prosecution witnesses – and said she would have noticed had I done anything wrong.”

Libby said that even though she has been cleared there is a stigma attached and she worries some people will think she simply “got away with it”.

She said: “I don’t regret reporting the nurse for abuse and now it’s about clearing my name and getting Bupa to accept they made a mistake and treated me wrongly.”