Care home nurse caught sleeping on shift struck off

A care home nurse who fell asleep three times while working night shifts has been struck off.

Laura Ellison worked at the Middletown Grange care home in Hailey, near Witney, Oxfordshire, in March 2018.

She was spotted by a colleague asleep and resting on paperwork during a shift on 12 March and then twice on a sofa four days later.

In 2022, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said Ms Ellison should be given the chance to improve but it said earlier this month she has not contacted it following three suspensions.

A colleague first said she found Ms Ellison asleep at about 04:00 GMT on 12 March 2018 as she sought staff during an emergency.

She woke Ms Ellison up and they returned to work.

In the second instance, the pair were working the night shift again when Ms Ellison was found "with her feet up on the sofa, waking up" in a lounge at about 01:30.

At about 03:00 the colleague said she found her asleep again on the sofa and took a photo of her.

Following an initial six-month suspension in October 2022, she was suspended again for another nine months in April 2023.

That suspension was extended again for another year in December 2023.

An NMC panel this month found Ms Ellison was "liable to repeat matters" and had to be struck off on the grounds of public protection.

It said its primary function was to protect patients and the wider public so it was "necessary to take action".

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