Tribunal is told of death at care home

The manager of a Black Country care home told colleagues it was best to let a severely dehydrated patient "go naturally", a misconduct hearing was told.

Rosalie Bannister, 62, faces charges relating to her time at the helm of the Silverlands Care Home in Oldbury. A Nursing and Midwifery Council panel in London heard how the patient, known as Resident B, had bed sores and was not eating when Bannister made the remark.

She is also accused of delaying medical assistance for another man, known as Resident A, who died after suffering from dehydration.

She is not attending the hearing, where she is accused of failing to maintain staffing levels, failing to keep medical records, nutritional assessments and accident books up to date, and failing to ensure patients were given prescribed medication in correct doses. The charges relate to April 2003 to November 2004 at the Silverlands Avenue home.

For the Nursing and Midwifery Council, Mr Tom Hoskins said: "Resident B required 24-hour care. A diagnosis was made that he was suffering from considerable dehydration and required significant care.

"Steps were taken by nurses to move him . . . she (Bannister) blocked the move. During the course of the conversation she replied saying that it was best to let him go naturally. That caused the district nurse some shock."

Mr Hoskins said Resident A was a diabetic and medics were "shocked" at delays in his treatment. He said a district nurse conducted an assessment on the patient, and left thinking a GP would arrive soon. But, he said, the GP did not visit and the care home did not call an ambulance. Resident A died on that day.

The hearing was told there had been concerns over the home and Sandwell Council took it over in 2004. Bannister admits failing to keep adequate records on patients and staff, failing to register a resident with a GP and failing to ensure prescription drugs were administered as required to several patients.

She denies failing to ensure adequate staffing, failing to call a nurse for Resident A when required, failing to work with district nurses, and failing to keep the home's accident book up-to-date.

If found guilty of misconduct she could be struck off the nursing register.

The hearing continues.