VULNERABLE people were put at risk of overdose after a care home nurse failed to sign for medication, a misconduct hearing concluded.

Sophie Hussain, who worked at Steeton Court Nursing Home, Steeton, was suspended for six months following the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing.

She mainly worked on a unit for people living with dementia and concerns were raised about her practice, namely that she had failed to sign for medications on “numerous occasions”.

Hussain began working at the home in May 2019 and was dismissed following an incident on July 17 that year, where she left a resident’s medication in front of them and walked away without checking they had taken it.

A report from the hearing said: “Another resident, who was sitting close by, allegedly took the medication and put it into her mouth; the resident was helped to spit the tablets out by the carers.”

That charge – and 13 others that largely concerned her failure to sign for medication - was found proved by the panel.

Only one charge – that she signed to say a laxative had been refused when there was, in fact, no Laxido stock in the medication trolley – was found unproved.

The panel found patients were “put at risk of suffering as a result of Miss Hussain’s misconduct” and she had brought the nursing profession into disrepute.

“Although there was no patient harm, the panel considered that Miss Hussain’s failure to sign for medication could have resulted in other nurses issuing the medication she may have already given but not signed for, putting vulnerable residents at risk of being overdosed,” the panel said.

The determination added: “The panel took into account that there had been little engagement from Miss Hussain with the NMC regarding these proceedings.

“The panel had not received any evidence from Miss Hussain regarding insight or remorse or how she had strengthened her practice since these incidents.

“The panel was made aware of the fact that Miss Hussain had been subject to two previous referrals which included clinical concerns regarding medication and record keeping.

“The panel noted that despite those proceedings and outcome, further failures in Miss Hussain’s medication and record-keeping were identified within a few months of her return to practice and subsequently found proved.”

The panel said a six-month suspension order would be appropriate “to mark the seriousness of the misconduct and to give Miss Hussain time to engage and provide the NMC with information regarding her future intentions in nursing”.

An interim order was also made, as the suspension order cannot take effect until the end of a 28-day appeal period.