Struck off: Cumbria care home manager withdrew cash without permission
Claire Ann Fitzpatrick was employed as a manager at a care home in Cumbria
Last updated 7 hours ago
A care home manager who withdrew cash from vulnerable residents’ bank accounts has been struck off the nursing register.
Claire Ann Fitzpatrick was employed as a manager at a care home in Cumbria when she withdrew money without permission from two residents’ accounts, a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) misconduct panel ruled.
In total, 17 out of 18 charges against the nurse were found proven by the tribunal, including that the mental health nurse had repeatedly asked two junior colleagues if she could borrow money.
Mrs Fitzpatrick took approximately £8,000 over a two-month period in 2021 from one resident, which “left her destitute and reliant on good will of others for every day basics”, the panel noted in a written ruling.
The resident had the capacity to manage her own finances, was able to go to a cash point to withdraw money and to the shop while being supported by staff.
However, the cash withdrawn by Mrs Fitzpatrick “far outweighed” the resident’s normal spending habits, the hearing was told.
In a police interview, Mrs Fitzpatrick did not dispute making withdrawals but instead “her explanation focused on what the monies were said to have been used for”, the panel said.
For another resident who “lacked the capacity to manage his own finances”, Mrs Fitzpatrick was the principal authorised signatory on an account which held his funds and made one or more cash withdrawals from his money between November 2020 and February 2021, according to the ruling.
Approximately 2,000 cigarettes had been bought with his money over a three-month period, despite the fact he did not smoke, the panel said.
In a police interview, Mrs Fitzpatrick did not dispute making the withdrawals and accepted she had made the transactions.
Mrs Fitzpatrick did not attend the hearings in May and previously told the NMC she had suffered a “devastating bereavement”, the panel noted.
The tribunal was told the care home manager had borrowed money from two junior colleagues, with one saying she was still owed ÂŁ1,000 after lending to Mrs Fitzpatrick on several occasions between April 2016 and June 2021.
The panel also found Mrs Fitzpatrick had stolen money from the home of a third colleague in or around December 2021 and that she failed to ensure care records for one or more residents were completed between 2019 and 2021.
It noted that a “significant number” of residents’ care documents were “completely missing” and that it considered “that these were not minor administrative oversights. They represented fundamental omissions in records essential to the safe delivery of care”.
She also failed to notify the Care Quality Commission of two residents’ deaths in April and May 2021 and to properly record or escalate incidents where residents had unexplained injuries.
“The panel found that Mrs Fitzpatrick’s misconduct involved repeated, premeditated and long-standing dishonesty,” the ruling said.
“It involved financial abuse and exploitation of highly vulnerable residents and predatory conduct towards junior colleagues.
“The panel considered that her actions represented significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse and constituted serious breaches of the fundamental tenets of the profession.”
The panel said: “As home manager, Mrs Fitzpatrick occupied a position of trust and was under a professional duty to protect those residents and their property.
“The panel was of the view that rather than safeguarding the financial interests of these vulnerable residents, Mrs Fitzpatrick was more concerned with her own interests and used their money for her own benefit.”
It made an order to strike Mrs Fitzpatrick off the nursing register with an interim suspension order of 18 months to allow her time to appeal.