Blackpool nurse and colleague jailed over drugging patients

An "evil" nurse who drugged patients on a stroke unit for an "easy shift" and a healthcare worker who conspired with her have been jailed.

Catherine Hudson, 54, was found guilty of giving unprescribed sedatives to two patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in 2017 and 2018.

She was also convicted of conspiring with Charlotte Wilmot, 48, to give a sedative to a third patient.

Hudson was jailed for seven years and two months. Wilmot was sentenced to three years.

Evidence during the trial highlighted the "dysfunctional" drugs regime on the stroke ward with free and easy access to controlled drugs and medication which led to "wholesale theft" by staff.

Prosecutors described it as a "culture of abuse" after police examined WhatsApp phone messages between the co-defendants and other members of staff.

The pair were investigated after a student nurse witnessed events while on a work placement on the stroke unit and told senior managers in November 2018, who called in police.

The whistleblowing nurse, who the prosecution had asked not to be named, told officers she had concerns over the use of insomnia medication Zopiclone, which can be life-threatening if given inappropriately.

She said Hudson had told her the patient had a Do Not Resuscitate Order in place "so she wouldn't be opened up if she died or... came to any harm".

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Source: BBC News, 14 December 2023