Nurse suspended for failing to investigate alleged Snapchat video showing resident’s face at East Lothian care home

A nurse has been suspended for failing to investigate “very serious concerns” raised about an alleged Snapchat video which showed a resident’s face at an East Lothian care home.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Deborah Bannister-Horrocks also failed to properly investigate a report of missing medication in her time as service manager at the Tyneholm Stables Care Home in Pencaitland.

Both incidents took place in April 2017 and were found proved by a panel following a hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Fitness to Practise Committee.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It was determined the failures were serious and amounted to misconduct and were deemed “unacceptable.”

A night nurse and deputy manager gave evidence which said Mrs Bannister-Horrocks had been made aware of apparent shortfalls in two opiate based painkillers, oxycodone and codeine phosphate, following a drug audit.

But the panel found that she failed to adequately report and investigate the “significant volume” of missing controlled drugs.

On another occasion later that month, a staff nurse raised concerns to her about an alleged Snapchat video showing staff “messing about in a resident’s bedroom.” The witness claimed the resident was visible in the background and “appeared to be distressed by what they were doing.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The witness said the video had been removed by the time she went to show it to Mrs Bannister-Horrocks, who told her that because there was no proof of it happening there was “no point in investigating.”

A 12 month suspension was given to Deborah Bannister-Horrocks. Pic: GoogleA 12 month suspension was given to Deborah Bannister-Horrocks. Pic: Google
A 12 month suspension was given to Deborah Bannister-Horrocks. Pic: Google

A key feature of the Snapchat app is that pictures and messages are usually only available for a short time before they become inaccessible to their recipients.

The panel found that, although the video ceasing to exist would have been a hindrance, this should not have prevented Mrs Bannister-Horrocks from conducting an investigation by speaking to potential witnesses who could have attested to the existence of the video and its contents.

A report of the hearing, recently published online by the NMC, said: “These concerns were very serious because the taking of the video represented an assault on the dignity of the resident.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The panel was in no doubt that Mrs Bannister-Horrocks was under a duty to investigate and that she failed to exercise this duty appropriately, adequately or promptly.”

Mrs Bannister-Horrocks was also found by the panel to have lacked integrity, in that she sought to “cover up” or “conceal” the events in question.

The panel determined that her failure to investigate the issue around the Snapchat video was a “serious neglect of her duties.”

Four other charges against her were found not proven, including claims that Mrs Bannister-Horrocks was made aware of concerns about a colleague attending work “hungover” and potentially under the influence of alcohol.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

As well as issuing a suspension order for 12 months, an interim order of suspension for 18 months was imposed to allow for any potential appeal period.

Mrs Bannister-Horrocks resigned from her employment at the care home in June 2017 amid the allegations.

The incidents in question happened before current care home provider, Sanctuary Care, acquired the facility in June 2017.

Sheila O’Connor, director of operations at Sanctuary Care, said: “While these incidents occurred prior to our purchase of Embrace Group in 2017, after making the referral to the NMC, we cooperated fully with the investigation and provided any support or information we were able to.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription at https://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/subscriptions.

Related topics: