A Dundee nurse cleared at trial of wilfully neglecting an elderly patient left soaked in his own urine is facing disciplinary action over the incident.
Joan Martinez, who worked at the Rosebank Care Home, was found not guilty of the charge after a five-day trial at Dundee Sheriff Court in 2012 alongside co-worker Sumita Rasario.
Sheriff Kenneth Hogg described evidence as “woefully inadequate” but Martinez faces a Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing over the incident, which happened at the care home on November 18 2011.
Martinez faces three complaints concerning incidents on the nightshift while she was employed by Four Seasons Health Care as a registered nurse at Rosebank Care Home.
They are that she laid a male resident’s bed flat to prevent him from climbing out, contrary to his care plan and/or without any authority to restrict his liberty in this way.
It is also alleged that she failed to ensure that the pump used by his airflow mattress was properly connected.
She is further charged that, between March 10 and April 26 2012, she did not inform the NMC and Four Seasons Health Care that she had been charged by Tayside Police.
The NMC alleges that because of these actions her fitness to practise is impaired by reason of her misconduct.
Her hearing begins on May 19 and if found guilty she could be struck off.
The Rosebank Street home, which was owned by Four Seasons Healthcare, closed in May 2012.
The trial in December 2012 heard that the man had been found covered in his own blood, soaked in urine and with bruising on his face following the nightshift which Martinez worked on.
At the end of the trial, Sheriff Hogg told Martinez and Rasario: “The nature of evidence leaves a considerable amount to the imagination and I cannot deal with what I suspect or imagine.
“I’m clear this care home fell well short of the required standards.”
Sheriff Hogg continued: “I cannot prove that there was ill treatment or wilful neglect.”