A NURSE at the Royal Bolton Hospital has been suspended after a number of failings, which left one patient in a critical state and another in a soiled condition.

Anne Marie Quinn was working as an agency nurse at the hospital when she was referred to the Nursery and Midwifery Council by Bolton NHS Foundation Trust in August 2019.

Following a hearing ­- which Mrs Quinn did not attend ­- the panel issued a suspension order for six months, with a review, to reflect the “seriousness of the misconduct”.

Among the most serious charges against Mrs Quinn, who has been a nurse for 28 years, was that she administered a nebulised medicine, with adrenaline, to a patient, referred to as Patient C, using the incorrect route, resulting in serious harm on July 15, 2019.

In its report The Nursery and Midwifery Fitness to Practise Panel Committee stated: “In particular Patient C suffered a cardiac arrest and required defibrillation and admission to a critical care unit.”

Mrs Quinn admitted to this charge.

It was also proved that she failed to administer insulin to a patient, a charge she denied. But the panel concluded via the evidence presented that it was Mrs Quinn’s duty to have administered insulin to the patient.

Mrs Quinn sent one patient covered in faeces for a scan on July 22, 2019, prompting a complaint by the patient’s son.

His complaint stated: “I received a call from my mum who was particularly upset, which is not like her.

“She said that she had been a left in a mess in the morning. I arrived on the ward just as they were taking her for an echo scan, and I was appalled to see her soiled.

“I was able to clean her myself which took sometime.

“Worryingly, the catheter was covered in faecal matter.”

The panel stated it was satisfied Mrs Quinn did not ensure the patient received personal care while she was on duty on July 22, 2019, and “instead left her in soiled condition”

Also proved at the hearing was that Mrs Quinn failed to make any adequate check(s) regarding the administration of an intravenous fluid and that she failed to ensure the correct intravenous fluid was administered on February 5, 2019 – charges she denied.

The panel concluded “that overall, Mrs Quinn showed very limited insight and remorse, and failed to fully recognise the actual and potential harm that was caused to the patients involved.”

It ruled that Mrs Quinn’s fitness to practise was “currently impaired by reason of misconduct on both public protection and public interest grounds.”

“The panel has considered this case carefully and has decided to make a suspension order for a period of six months, with a review before the expiry of the order,” stated the Fitness to Practice Committee in its report.

Mrs Quinn has the right to appeal the order.