Hi. I am a very new poster to mumsnet, so please be gentle with me.
It's a bit of a long story, but will try to keep it brief and not get too carried away with loads of details.
My nan passed away almost two years ago and prior to that she suffered with Alzheimer's for a couple of years. Her decline got markedly worse in her final months. She was a diabetic and was unable to take her medication for this, so nurses (not carers) would visit my nan in her warden-assisted accommodation to do this for her.
Several months prior to her death, my mum noticed that money was going missing from my nans flat, and her purse. (Nan was not able to look after her finances, so my mum used to put money in the purse for things my nan needed, such as her hairdresser, or gardener). Of course, at first, it was thought that nan was either giving the money away, or losing it. However, the only people who visited her were family members or people she paid for a service, such as her hairdresser. These people had been known to the family for years, and we thought it would be highly unlikely that they would accept any other money from nan.
We started to keep records, and it was noticed that money was only going missing on two days of the week, and this coincided with two days that a particular nurse visited. The situation was monitored for a few weeks, and it became obvious that the nurse was stealing. (On a couple of occasions, mum would check the money in nans purse just before the scheduled nurses visit, then go and wait, out of view in the day room until after she had been and gone, and then the purse was re-checked afterwards - money gone.
Obviously, the police were informed and hidden cameras were placed in nans flat, and she was captured on film on three separate occasions stealing. They attempted to catch her red handed by putting marked notes in my nans bag, but she failed to turn up three times in a row, so she was arrested on the evidence already gained. She immediately confessed.
Whilst waiting for the case to go to magistrates court, she changed her plea to not guilty, and maintained that the confession was gained under duress, so it was referred to Crown Court.
The Crown Court case fell apart after one day, as it transpired that the nurse was asked an oppressive question, which made all the evidence inadmissible.
The NHS is now undertaking an investigation into what happened, and will be shortly making a decision based on the results. There has been a lot of national press interest in the story, especially once they saw the conclusive video footage of the thefts occurring, but we have been asked to not talk about it to the press for fear of ruining the investigation.
We are just so so worried that this woman could potentially soon be allowed to enter vulnerable people's homes again, and we are struggling to come to terms with this. Obviously we are hoping and praying that the NHS investigation will result in her dismissal, and ultimately, being struck-off. She does not have the right to wear the uniform. However, this has been a nightmare for well over two years, and I am not sure how we will cope if we don't get the decision we want. We are aware that the nurse has had barrister representation for the internal inquiry, but when we were questioned, it was just us....we are scared that we don't stand a chance.
I recognise that miscarriages of justice do happen, but, as we know 100% that she did it, we are not going to be able to easily accept her going back to work. (She's been suspended on full pay for 2 years).
AIBU to not be able to get this out of my head?
AIBU?
To feel sick with worry over this?
Megjes · 23/08/2015 23:55
Thank you everyone! . Absolutely no offence whatsoever taken by the reporting of the post. I know that this would have been done out of kindness.
Obviously, we do not want to jeopardise the inquiry. However, the case has already been reported in the local press, so the facts are already in the public domain.
The reason we have been given for not speaking to the press is two-fold. Firstly, in case other evidence comes to light, and she is asked to attend court again. That said, we have also been told that there is virtually no chance of this happening, as it does not appear that other people were stolen from. Secondly, we were asked to not discuss the details of meetings which we have attended as part of the investigation, which I have not done on this thread.
The NMC have already started their investigations, and we will be interviewed as a part of this. The nurse again, will have a barrister to argue her case, but as the court case collapsed, we will not have anyone to assist. We just have an awful feeling that she will not be struck off by the NMC, and she will continue being a nurse. It's like everything is stacked against us. She has her anonymity, she has been on full pay for two years, she has a barrister to represent her, yet my nan, was repeatedly stolen from, in her own home, at the most vulnerable time of her life, by somebody entrusted to look after her. It's just awful.
Thanks for all your kind words of support. I know I will just have to let things lie, and what will be will be.
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