A CARE home nurse has been struck off after accepting a £10,000 payment from an end-of-life resident in her final days. 

Chris Boothroyd started working at Boarbank Hall Nursing Home at Allithwaite as a bank staff nurse in 2019.

The 27-bed nursing home cares for mainly frail elderly patients who need help with their nursing needs. 

He did not attend a virtual Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing in regards to his conduct.

The resident, named as Resident A in the hearing report, was deemed as 'having full capacity to make decisions and her mental state was not affected.'.

She was described as quite independent with her own self-care but was vulnerable due to her medical condition.

Mr Boothroyd was aware of her condition and that employees are not permitted to accept any form of gift from residents and to inform their superiors of the offer, the panel heard.

Mr Boothroyd accepted a payment of £10,000 from Resident A on or around April 21 2022 and left his employment on April 22.

The care home's employee handbook says: "Employees are not permitted to accept any form of gift, gratuity or bequest from our services users past or present, their family, relatives or friends."

Between April 14 2022 and May 14 2022, he sent Resident A Facebook messages and text messages from his private phone which continued after he left.

Resident A had spoken to her family about Mr Boothroyd however they were unaware of the messages between the two and the £10,000 cheque, the panel was told.

During the hearing the panel deemed that the facts amounted to misconduct and cited the inherent power imbalance in a nurse-patient relationship.

The report read: "One of Resident A’s final acts in life was to write him a cheque for a large sum of money.

"He accepted thousands of pounds from a vulnerable resident who was on end-of-life care that he had known for a relatively short period of time and did not report it to his then employer."

Mr Boothroyd did express some remorse for his actions. In part of his reflection document, he said: "When [Resident A] offered me this cheque within the last hour of my last shift, I should have refused despite how insistent she was with me that she wanted to do this for me."

He added: "I could not be more remorseful or ashamed for acting in such a way that is now going to jeopardise my future career as a nurse.

"I can only assure you that I am of a very good character and a very caring professional nurse, who does not want to lose this privileged right to serve and care for others in need."

According to the NMC, he did not accept he took advantage of the resident, rather he unjustifiably accepted her generosity.

Mr Boothroyd informed the NMC that he had repaid the money to Resident A’s estate however it was after the cheque and the messages had been reported to the home by her family.

The panel ruled his actions 'fell short of what would be expected of a registered nurse in the circumstances'.

They said: "The areas of concern identified relate to basic nursing knowledge and fundamental tenets of the profession. These failings are likely to cause risk to patients in the future if they are not addressed.

"Maintenance of professional boundaries and the safeguarding of patients from financial abuse are fundamental tenets of nursing."

An interim 18-month suspension was imposed to allow Mr Boothroyd to appeal.

If no appeal is made, then the interim suspension order will be replaced by the striking off order 28 days after Mr Boothroyd is sent the decision of the hearing.