Senior nurse sacked after telling disabled care home resident they ‘didn’t deserve to be alive’

A senior nurse has been sacked after she told a disabled care home resident they “didn’t deserve to be alive”.

Kathleen Martin bullied two patients while working at Bethany House Nursing Home, a care home for people with physical and learning disabilities in Dymchurch, Kent, a misconduct hearing was told.

The nurse told one patient, known as patient A, he was an “idiot” and made him feel “two inches high” when she pushed her face close to his and said he didn’t deserve to live during an argument in July 2020, he told the panel.

“It made me feel small, insignificant, [like I] wouldn’t be missed,” he said.

A senior care worker who witnessed this said: “I was concerned and could see that patient A felt vulnerable and belittled.”

“Katie said ‘if your behaviour continues, you will have to move out of here and I will tell your mum’. Katie was trying to scold patient A like a child.”

Mrs Martin told the panel: “I had threatened to tell his mum about his swearing but have never actually told his mum anything.

“I find his swearing and abuse very upsetting and deny telling him that I would get him moved.”

The hearing was also told patient A is diabetic, and the care workers had to manage when he was allowed to eat dessert to control his blood sugar levels.

A worker at the home said: “Katie will not explain to patient A why he is not getting his pudding. Katie just says ‘no pudding for you today’.”

She was also “verbally aggressive” towards another resident, known as patient B, who has a brain injury, and wanted “control” over him, colleagues told the hearing.

They said the nurse would also speak to him in a “clipped tone”

The panel found she didn’t intend to threaten or intimidate patient B, however, Mrs Martin’s behaviour towards both was “inappropriate and aggressive” and she was struck off after being found guily of misconduct.

The hearing was also told “there had been a culture of things being swept under the rug” at the home.

Mrs Martin had resigned from the care home when the allegations came to light, saying she was retiring but the panel found there had been a “complete lack of insight” on her behalf.