Jail for nurse who sedated stroke patients ‘for easy shift’
HOSPITAL workers who drugged stroke patients to make their shifts easier did so for “their own amusement”, a judge has said.
Catherine Hudson, 54, a senior nurse, and Charlotte Wilmot, 48, a healthcare worker, were found guilty yesterday of mistreating stroke patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital as part of a “culture of abuse”.
The pair were said to have singled out patients they disliked in order to have “an easy life” in a move called “dangerous and callous”, a court heard.
A misconduct inquiry revealed messages which showed Hudson and Wilmot plotting to “kill bed 5” and give another patient “the best sleep she ever had”.
Hudson wrote in one message: “What a lovely day I have had in blue bay today. Sedated all the troublemakers lol xxx.”
She was sentenced to seven years and two months at Preston Crown Court yesterday.
The senior nurse also administered an unprescribed sedative to Aileen Scott, a 76-year-old paraplegic patient, to “keep her quiet”. Wilmot, was found to have been involved to a lesser degree, was given a three year sentence.
In his sentencng remarks, Robert Altham, honorary recorder of Preston, said: “You were in a position of trust and responsibility. You offended against vulnerable people in your care over a significant period.
“The relatives of all those patients will always be distressed at the betrayal of trust. There will be a loss of public confidence in the NHS.”
Hospital chiefs alerted police to Hudson’s activities in November 2018 when a student nurse on a work placement said Hudson suggested administering unprescribed drugs to a patient.
The drug, zopiclone, a class C sleep- ing pill, is potentially life-threatening if given to unwell patients, Preston Crown Court heard.
A message from May 2016 showed Wilmot responding to Hudson’s suggestion to sedate a patient. It said: “Ha ha yeah sedation we love it.”
Judge Robert Altham, said: “The patients were as vulnerable as anyone could be. These defendants exploited them for an easy shift, for amusement and to exercise contemptuous power over them.”