A nurse who swiped food from patients and left a dying man to go on a break has been struck off the nursing register.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard how Theresa Bacon would take ‘cakes and puddings’ from sick patients and ignored one woman’s tearful request to change her dressings, telling her: ‘Tears don’t work for me.’
Bacon, who worked at the Royal Blackburn Hospital, in Lancashire, even asked one patient to get her coffee.
The NMC found all 17 allegations against her proven and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust responded by stressing they acted quickly when concerns were raised.
The trust first referred Bacon to the NMC in May 2020 said investigators spoke to her colleagues and heard key evidence in her dealings with two patients – a man called Patient A and a woman called ‘Patient B’.
Bacon’s conduct towards ‘Patient A’ was the most serious complaint, who began experiencing breathing difficulties on April 28 2019.
Theresa Bacon (pictured) has been struck off the nursing register after she swiped food from patients and left a dying man to go on a break
The entrance to Royal Blackburn Hospital. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard how Theresa Bacon would take ‘cakes and puddings’ from sick patients and even asked one to go get her coffee (stock image)
The NMC heard how a health care assistant (HCA) – referred to as ‘Witness five’ – approached Ms Bacon several times asking for help with the man but Band five nurse Bacon ‘failed to respond in a timely manner’.
She was described as ‘uninterested’ and as having given Witness five ‘the brush off’.
When she did come back to help, Ms Bacon placed an oxygen mask on Patient A and left Witness five and another HCA to tend to him while she went on a break.
Another nurse, referred to as Witness 3, told investigators: ‘I couldn’t believe she had just gone to break. It was a completely incorrect action to take.
‘If the patient was in my care, I would have been checking their observations and staying with them to monitor their breathing; I would have called a doctor.’
Bacon ultimately had to be called back from her break when Patient A stopped breathing – she also failed to explain the reasoning for the oxygen mask in care notes.
Witness five told investigators how Bacon ‘regularly’ took food intended for patients, they said: ‘She would always have pockets full of food.
‘I have seen her look for her keys in her pockets, and take out all the patient food she has stored in them before finding her key.’
Witness five also described how Bacon would sometimes ‘act like she was helping’ hand out the trays of food to patients so she could ‘access cakes off them’.
Royal Blackburn Hospital in Lancashire where Theresa Bacon worked. Bacon’s conduct towards ‘Patient A’ was the most serious complaint, who began experiencing breathing difficulties on April 28 2019
The colleague highlighted one specific occasion when she placed a meal on a tray for a patient at time when Bacon was ‘the only other person there’.
Witness five said: ‘When I got around to giving bed sixteen their tray, their pudding had disappeared.’
The panel was told the hospital’s policy was ‘staff should not touch or eat any food off the trolley as it was for patients’, even if it had been left untouched.
Witness five also revealed that she saw Bacon ask a patient to get her a Costa Coffee during a shift: ‘I did not witness any exchange of money. This is not how I expect a Registered Nurse to behave. This was very unprofessional.’
Other complaints included that Bacon shouted at patients, did not give Patient B her medication and then falsely recorded that she had, and that she had ‘inappropriate’ conversations with some male patients about her personal life.
Patient B told investigators: ‘Teresa would frequently shout at me for no reason. There were other times when she was fine and then she would just turn.’
The independent panel concluded Bacon was guilty of ‘serious failings’ in the case of Patient A, and had also failed to treat other patients with care and compassion.
Hospital staff preparing a bed on a private ward. The NMC found all 17 allegations against Bacon proven and have struck her off the nursing register (stock image)
Highlighting the degree of trust the public must have in nursing, the panel explained: ‘Nurses occupy a position of privilege and trust in society and are expected at all times to be professional.
‘Patients and their families must be able to trust nurses with their lives and the lives of their loved ones. To justify that trust, nurses must be honest and open and act with integrity.
‘They must make sure that their conduct at all times justifies both their patients’ and the public’s trust in the profession.’
Announcing its decision to strike Ms Bacon off the register, the panel said she put patients at risk of ‘physical and emotional harm’ adding: ‘The panel found Ms Bacon’s actions deplorable, caused actual harm and the behaviour seriously undermined public confidence in the profession.’
The report went on: ‘The conduct, as highlighted by the facts found proved, was a significant departure from the standards expected of a registered nurse.
‘The panel’s findings evidenced a series of concerns that were not one off in nature. The panel found evidence of deep-seated attitudinal problems.
‘The panel found no evidence of insight by Ms Bacon into her unprofessional behaviour and found her actions were uncaring and lacked compassion.
‘In addition, the panel found Ms Bacon’s actions caused harm to patients and put patients at risk of harm.
‘The panel noted that the serious breach of the fundamental tenets of the profession evidenced by Ms Bacon’s actions is fundamentally incompatible with Ms Bacon remaining on the register without restriction.’
Peter Murphy, chief nurse at the trust, said ‘poor and disrespectful’ behaviour would be dealt with ‘firmly’.
He said: ‘I want to add that the actions of this person do not reflect the majority of compassionate and hard working colleagues who are caring for people across all services every day.’
Ms Bacon was struck off the register and has been given 28 days to appeal but failed to attend her fitness to practise hearing.