Ex-home boss hits back at inspector

Feb 26 2008 By Chris Henwood

THE manager of a former Birmingham nursing home who is facing misconduct charges questioned the honesty of an inspector who has been highly critical of standards there.

Kathleen Smith, 46, was manager at the Maypole Nursing Home, in Kings Heath, where 27 residents died in a year.

She called into question the honesty of Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) officer Kathleen Strong.

Mrs Strong told a nursing council hearing that Smith, of Shirley, failed to keep adequate residents' care plans and had not checked out workers with the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB).

She said: "Out of the 50 care plans I saw, none was adequate. "There was no evidence of CRB checks being carried out. I would expect this to be complied with 100 per cent, the residents are considered to be vulnerable adults."

But Smith, who is facing misconduct charges along with former Maypole colleagues Carol Estelle Bushell and Mary Kathleen Casey, told Mrs Strong: "Either you haven't had all the information or you've been dishonest. "Everybody had given references - once again you haven't been given all the documentation."

The allegations against Smith, which include failure to provide appropriate levels of care and failure to implement satisfactory recruitment practices, all relate to the period between January 1, 2001, and March 31, 2003.

Bushell, 48, from West Heath, faces allegations of taking away a resident's zimmer frame, administering wrong drug doses and allowing a resident to eat food against medical advice.

Casey, 70, of Harborne, faces allegations of failing to take appropriate action after a male patient was found in a female patient's room and forcing residents to wake up at an "inappropriately early time".

She has admitted letting a resident suffering a chest infection sleep in a bucket chair in September 2002. All three have agreed they gave drugs to the wrong patients.

They could be suspended or struck off the nursing register.

(Proceeding)