Care home resident died after unqualified nurse administered wrong medication

A nurse with no qualifications gave a care home resident a fatal dose of the wrong drug, leading to her death before she then tried to cover up her mistake.

Katherine Hutchinson gave Fiona Jayne Thorne a fatal overdose of a powerful anti-psychotic drug, which was meant for another patient, an inquest heard.

She then tried to cover up her errors which contributed to the death of the 36-year-old with learning difficulties, Derbyshire Live reported .

Ms Hutchinson had, at the time, been the nurse in charge at Whitwell Park Care Home, in Whitwell, Derbyshire despite not having any qualifications.

She gave Miss Thorne clozapine, which had been intended for another resident, on October 6, 2010.

Instead of owning up to what she did, Ms Hutchinson then tried to cover up her mistake by taking Miss Thorne to bed and leaving her there until she was discovered, Senior Coroner Dr Robert Hunter said.

Miss Thorne was "found by the care support worker around midnight, when undertaking routine checks on residents”, the inquest heard.

And then Ms Hutchinson’s mistake was only discovered after an audit was carried out of the medication trolley and a dosage of clozapine was found.

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Source: Mirror, 8 April 2022