Two African are in trouble for sleeping while on duty. Titilayo Ajala and Henretta Offae are accused of falling asleep during their 9pm to 7am night-shift at Westlands care home in Olney, near Milton Keynes.
This picture above shows the moment these two carers were apparently found asleep after allegedly unplugging the alarms of elderly patients so that they would not be disturbed.
The Court was told that care home manager Salina Ballard and a colleague took the picture during an unannounced 3am check. Ajala, 56, from Milton Keynes, and Offae, 41, from Derby, deny 19 counts of ill
treatment or neglect of a person who lacks capacity, between January 1, 2011 and August 19, 2011.
The care home assistants were allegedly discovered fast asleep in lounge armchairs on August 19 with a fan heater running by their care home manager Salina Ballard.
The home, run by St Andrews Care Home Ltd, charges £580 pounds per week per patient.
Mr Moore told the hearing that mats were placed at the side of the residents' beds which would set off an alarm if they fell.
However, the prosecution says 11 of the mats had been disabled so if the residents had fallen in the night, no alarm would have sounded.
Prosecutor Neil Moore told the jury: 'The prosecution case, in a nutshell, is that when they worked together during [their shifts] they would disable alarm systems, which would otherwise alert them if one of these elderly residents fell out of their beds.
They would pad the residents up with extra incontinence pads or place waterproof sheets on the bed so they didn't need to be changed.
'Basically, the two defendants would then tuck themselves up in warm clothing in front of a television in one of the lounges and have a night's sleep.
'Therefore, the prosecution says, putting the welfare of the elderly residents at risk.'
The 17th Century building caters for high risk elderly people who suffer from dementia or are unable to look after themselves.
The trial heard today that the carers were allowed a 45-minute break, but not at the same time. Mr Moore said it was considered 'gross misconduct' if they slept.
The prosecutor told the court that when Ms Ajala woke up she said 'My God Salina, what are you doing here?'
He added: 'Mrs Ballard replied by telling her she had been watching her sleep for half an hour and informed her some of the fall pads had been unplugged.
'Mrs Ajala said: "Salina, Barbara, you have to forgive me."
'Ms Offae said: "I hold my hands up, you caught me. What we have done is inexcusable". They had been caught red-handed and Mrs Offae at that time accepted it.'
Both were dismissed from their jobs that day and were later arrested by police. Both women denied the allegations when they were quizzed by detectives.
'Some of residents were fitted with two incontinence pads which should never have been the case. Some had pads shoved underneath them.'Pads were soaked with urine and in one case faeces.'
Giving evidence Mrs Ballard said sleeping on the job was 'absolutely forbidden.'
She said: 'It amounts to gross misconduct. We're responsible for our residents' well-being. They (the defendants) were there to do a job to protect them (the residents).'
Mrs Ballard refuted suggestions by the defence barristers that the defendants were not asleep and were dozing or 'resting their eyes' during a break.
'They were asleep,' she said. 'I was standing there for half an hour and I took a photo. I stood watching them sleeping.'
The four-day trial before Judge Francis Sheridan continues
Culled from daily mail.
Ok, as much as i dont agree with sleeping on duty, i have a few questions, where were the other nurses or carers? surely its not just these two people working that shift. Carers don't work alone, nurses are always there. if they were allowed breaks, where and when could they have it? Has it happened before? Have they been warned in the past? I dunno, maybe I am not reading right. so they are allowed 45 minutes break but can't take it together
2 comments:
Sack them for their misconduct...fair enough...
But spending millions to prosecute them is the dumbest idea ever.
There are worse people UK govt should prosecute. Not negligent careers.
I beg to differ, Fire them, not like they killed anyone, what if it was a one off mistake? How about an official warning? They don't just fire people like that.
There are definitely worse oyinbo people that are still in employment. Not in anyway saying what they did was right.
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