A nurse and assistant practitioner have been jailed for a total of ten years and two months after drugging patients for their ‘own amusement’.
Nurse Catherine Hudson, 54, and healthcare worker Charlotte Wilmot, 48, were earlier found guilty over the ill-treatment of stroke patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
The pair are said to have targeted patients if they disliked them or their relatives, drugging them for ‘an easy life’.
Messages between the pair – which were uncovered after a probe was launched into alleged misconduct – showed how ‘callous and dangerous’ Hudson wrote to her friend that she was going to ‘kill bed 5’ and planned to give one patient ‘the best sleep she ever had’.
In another message to a colleague, Hudson wrote: ‘What a lovely day I have had in blue bay today. Sedated all the troublemakers lol xxx.’
Today Hudson, who drugged patients to ‘exercise contemptuous power,’ was sentenced to seven years and two months at Preston Crown Court.
Her colleague Wilmot, who a judge said was involved with two patients but was not the lead offender, received a three year sentence.
The judge spoke of the ‘distress’ the relatives of victims would feel and said the case will result in a loss of public confidence in healthcare workers.
Catherine Hudson (left), 54, and Charlotte Wilmot (right), 48, pictured leaving Preston Crown Court, after they were convicted
Pictured are Hudson (right) and Wilmot (left) exchanged messages joking about sedating their patients
Hudson, who drugged patients to ‘exercise contemptuous power,’ was sentenced to seven years and two months at Preston Crown Court
Hudson sedated numerous hospital patients including Aileen Scott (pictured) who is from Glasgow but was on holiday in Blackpool
In his sentencing remarks, he said: ‘You were in a position of trust and responsibility. You offended against vulnerable people in your care over a significant period.
‘There was in each case a risk of harm. We have heard of the risk of sedatives to stroke patients.
‘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.’
Hudson illegally sedated two patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital and conspired with junior colleague Wilmot to sedate a third.
Police were alerted by hospital chiefs in November 2018 after a student nurse on a work placement said Hudson suggested administering unprescribed zopiclone, a sleeping pill, to elderly patient Aileen Scott.
The whistleblower was further troubled when Hudson commented: ‘Well, she’s got a DNAR (do not attempt resuscitation) in place so she wouldn’t be opened up if she died or like if it came to any harm.’
She was said to be ‘shocked’ when Hudson then took a strip of zopiclone from her tunic pocket and administered the sedative.
Zopiclone – a Class C controlled drug – was potentially life-threatening if given inappropriately to acutely unwell patients, Preston Crown Court heard.
Prosecutors said messages between Hudson, an experienced Band 5 registered nurse, and Wilmot, a Band 4 assistant practitioner, revealed a ‘culture of abuse’ – with patients drugged for their ‘own amusement’.
In May 2016, in response to Hudson suggesting the sedation of a patient, Wilmot replied: ‘Ha ha yeah sedation we love it.’
In a text conversation from early February 2017, the pair appeared to be bragging about sedating patients in the stroke ward.
Hudson, in a message to Wilmot, claimed she was going to ‘kill’ the patient in bed five. Wilmot, who indicated she was laughing, replied: ‘well tonight sedate him to high heaven’.
‘Already in my head to give him double !! Xxx,’ Hudson answered.
Hudson threatened to kill a patient on hospital stroke unit and bragged about sedating another ‘within an inch of her life’, appalling WhatsApp messages read to the jury reveal
Judge Robert Altham, Honorary Recorder of Preston, said: ‘The offences of ill-treatment were committed by these defendants whose duty was to protect and care for them.
‘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.’
He said the whistleblowing nurse, who the prosecution had requested not be named, should be commended for her actions.
He said: ‘It was only as a result of her courage and sense of public duty that what was happening on the ward was exposed and stopped.’
Karen Tonge, Specialist Prosecutor for CPS North’s Complex Casework Unit, said: ‘Catherine Hudson needlessly drugged patients with the full knowledge of the potentially life-threatening consequences of her actions and Wilmot encouraged her.
‘Hudson and Wilmot showed a complete disregard for the wellbeing of the vulnerable patients, whose care should have been their top priority.
‘The callous way they mocked and laughed about the patients was absolutely shameful. Their conduct is a complete betrayal of the trust placed in them as medical professionals.
‘I hope the victims and their families can find some comfort in knowing that those who mistreated their loved ones have been brought to justice. I would also like to thank the student nurse who came forward to raise her concerns, without whose bravery and support this prosecution may not have been possible.’