A NURSE who worked at a nursing home in Colwyn Bay has been suspended after being found guilty of “discriminatory” and “racially motivated” misconduct in the workplace.
Caroline Stockley, a registered nurse, was sanctioned with a 12-month suspension order, with an interim suspension order for a period of 18 months.
Her case was determined by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) investigating committee following a series of Fitness to Practise hearings between July 27, 2023 and October 28, 2024.
The panel chairing the hearings found that Ms Stockley’s conduct “fell seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse” and that Ms Stockley had “demonstrated an unacceptably low standard of professional practice”.
Six charges were levelled against the former nurse for breaches dated between August 16 and October 13 2020, when she worked at Eithinog Care Home in Colwyn Bay.
The first charge, all involving the same patient, alleged that Ms Stockley did not escalate the patient’s concerns to a GP, did not obtain patient consent, massaged their anal area and did not accurately record details of her conduct.
These charges were admitted by Ms Stockley’s representative.
The second charge alleged that Ms Stockley had told a colleague, on or before 13 October 2020, on their first meeting “Hi, Filipino?” (or words to that effect). PBA
She had also told the colleague “You don’t complain because all Filipinos are submissive, all Asians are submissive, that’s what you are submissive” (or words to that effect), “You are yellow then”, “You are considered black and black lives matter”, and “You are black”.
Her comments were heard to have made her colleague feel “shocked” and “insulted”.
These charges were proven, some by admission.
The panel also noted that Ms Stockley “made clear to the panel in your evidence that you considered that Filipinos, Chinese and Asians were ‘meek and submissive’ and management would take advantage of staff from these backgrounds”.
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A third charge said Ms Stockley’s conduct was “racially motivated and discriminatory” and was found proven “in its entirety”.
The panel’s fourth charge against the nurse was that on August 16, she had told a patient to “shut up and get out”, or words to that effect. This was proved by admission.
The final charge against Ms Stockley was that on or before September 22, she did not respond to an emergency bell. This was also proved by admission.
After performing a manual evacuation on a patient (charge one), which caused the patient “considerable distress and upset”, Ms Stockley was suspended from her duties pending the completion of the care home’s investigation.
This investigation brought to light further allegations, some of which make up the charges.
Ms Stockley resigned from her position in March 2021, the day before a disciplinary hearing was held in her absence.
The panel noted that it had been decided at the disciplinary hearing that “had you not resigned, you would have been summarily dismissed with immediate effect for gross misconduct”.
The panel concluded that Ms Stockley had demonstrated a “pattern of inappropriate communication” which “fall seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and amounted to misconduct”.
Ms Stockley’s fitness to practise was found to be impaired by reason of her misconduct.
The panel summarised: “The panel found that patients and colleagues were put at risk of psychological harm as a result of your misconduct.
“The panel determined that your misconduct had breached the fundamental tenets of the nursing profession and therefore brought its reputation into disrepute.
“The panel considered that in your oral evidence and written reflections, there were notable attempts to deflect blame and the responsibility of your actions.
It found that it had not received evidence that indicates that you have demonstrated a full understanding of why and what you did wrong, how this impacted negatively on patients, your colleagues and the reputation of the nursing profession, and an in-depth explanation and action plan as to how you would handle situations differently in the future.
“It determined that you demonstrated limited insight and remorse.
“The panel was of the view that due to the limited insight and remorse, as well as the lack of evidence of strengthened practice, there remains a risk of repetition.
“The panel considered that your misconduct demonstrated a pattern of behaviour that fails to acknowledge professional standards of communication in the workplace towards patients.”
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