Nurse at West Yorkshire care home suspended after allowing patient to administer own medicine via syringe driver

Cheryl Ann Jessop, a mental health nurse, was employed by Lister House Limited and worked at Sherrington House on Heaton Road in Bradford from 2017 to 2018.

The home was rated as 'Good' by the CQC in its last report on December 2019.

Mrs Jessop has been suspended for six months after a panel found she allowed a patient to administer their own medication via a syringe driver.

A syringe driver is a small battery-powered pump that delivers medication at a constant rate through a small plastic tube under the skin.

It was found the Mrs Jessop allowed the patient to administer her own medicine despite being "concerned" as the driver "delivers extremely strong controlled drugs at a constant rate."

She had previously been employed at Moorview Care Home and Pellon Manor Care Home - both in Halifax.

Mrs Jessop's failings "put patients at risk of harm" across the three care homes, the panel found.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council received a referral on February 13, 2017, concerning incidents involving Mrs Jessop between the three residential care homes from 2015 to 2017.

It was alleged that Mrs Jessop allowed 'Patient G' to administer her own medication via a syringe driver.

Mrs Jessop also placed a new delivery of methadone straight into the medication trolley and did not complete the controlled drug book, the panel heard.

The three charges relating to incidents at Sherrington House were found to be proved by the panel.

Mrs Jessop - in a written submission regarding the first charge - told the panel "I gave the resident the wire to change, and I watched her extremely closely to ensure she was not in anyway trying to perform this task inappropriately.

"I was concerned, as I am aware that the syringe driver delivers extremely strong controlled drugs at a constant rate".

The panel therefore concluded that Mrs Jessop had allowed 'Patient G' to administer her own medication via a syringe driver.

Allowing a patient to administer their own syringe driver was "a risky course of conduct which could have resulted in risk of harm to that patient", the panel heard.

Mrs Jessop had been "in the middle of a medication round" when methadone was delivered to the home.

She admitted putting the medication straight into a drug trolley and the panel concluded that she had taken the action without informing colleagues.

Mrs Jessop told the panel in written submission that she had "left to go home and had completely forgot" that she had not signed in the Methadone.

All three charges were found to be proved by the panel.

The panel found that Mrs Jessop’s actions "as a whole" did fall "seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and amounted to misconduct".

The panel was of the view that patients were put at risk of harm as a result of Mrs Jessop’s misconduct.

Other charges to be found proved included Mrs Jessop's failure to administer Procyclidine to a patient, losing four keys to a medical cupboard before spending "three to four hours" looking for them and Mrs Jessop's failure to escalate her "inability to administer an injection".

A total of 13 charges were found to be proved, with a further seven found not to be proved.

A report from the hearing on Friday December 4 - which Mrs Jessop did not attend - said: "Mrs Jessop’s misconduct had breached the fundamental tenets of the nursing profession and therefore brought its reputation into disrepute."

The panel said Mrs Jessop accepted "some of her failings" but she often sought to blame others and did not show sufficient remorse.

Mrs Jessop was suspended for six months, with an interim suspension order of 18 months to cover the appeals process.

The report stated: "The panel has considered this case very carefully and has decided to make a suspension order for a period of 6 months with a review at the end of this period.

"The effect of this order is that the NMC register will show that Mrs Jessop’s registration has been suspended."

Within the decisions for sanction, the panel said Mrs Jessop demonstrated limited insight into the deficiencies in her practice, the seriousness of her conduct and the impact her conduct had on patients, colleagues and the nursing profession.

She also "missed opportunities provided by her employers to remedy concerns" and "demonstrated a lack of insight" according to the panel.

In mitigation, the panel found Mrs Jessop has "demonstrated some acceptance of her failings".

Balancing all of these factors, the panel concluded that a suspension order would be the appropriate and proportionate sanction.

The panel noted the hardship such an order will inevitably cause Mrs Jessop.

However, the panel found this is outweighed by the public interest in this case.

At the end of the period of suspension, another panel will review the order.

At the review hearing the panel may revoke the order, or it may confirm the order, or it may replace the order with another order.