A NURSE who gave incorrect doses of medication to a patient and falsely recorded it has been suspended a decade on from the incident.

In July 2013, while working at Benham Care Home in Bromborough, Ruth Patten was found to have administered the wrong amount of painkillers to a resident and made false records claiming she had completed the tasks correctly. Now, more than 10 years on, Mrs Patten has been sanctioned by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for the eighth time.

Having originally been handed down a year-long conditions of practise order by the NMC after charged against her were found proven in 2015, a fresh 12 month suspension has now been ordered as Mrs Patton seeks to return to the care profession.

A fitness to practise hearing on September 1 was told after her initial hearing eight years ago, Mrs Patton faced a further six review sessions in which she was suspended or issued with further conditions of practice orders. Since registering as a nurse in 2011, Mrs Patton has been under sanction for eight of the 12 years.

An original panel investigating Mrs Patton said they were of the view she had demonstrated an understanding of why what she did was wrong and that you have taken full responsibility for your failures in the past. However, despite expressing a desire to return to nursing, a new three-person panel felt the former care home worker had not shown “any evidence of insight by Mrs Patton since the order was imposed on 9 September 2015.”

The first panel was told how Mrs Patton was seeking to undertake a return to practice course in a bid to return to work, despite being out of nursing for a significant period of time. In an email on August 31, she had sought to ask the panel to consider extending her current order while dealing with a private matter.

It was said she had made enquiries about a return to nursing practice at the University of Chester. A report made public by the NMC said: “The panel considered there was still impairment and the need to protect the public. 

“The panel determined that there is an issue in public confidence as this is the eighth review of a charge that originated in 2013. It determined that there would be a desire from the public for the effective disposal of this case.”

At the latest hearing, the panel was of the view that Mrs Patton has not had the opportunity or taken effective steps to demonstrate strengthening of her practice or remediation of her actions, as she has not been able to work. In light of this, the panel therefore decided that a finding of continuing impairment is necessary on the grounds of public protection.

As a result, she was suspended for an additional 12 months.