Nurse jailed for mistreating patients has sentence reduced

A FORMER staff nurse has lost an appeal against a prison term for ill-treating dementia patients, but she has had the sentence reduced.

Anna Kelly (54) from Garvallagh Road, Fintona was originally jailed for three months after committing offences against two men and a woman receiving in-patient treatment a the Ash Villa Unit of Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital in June 2020.

She previously denied the charges, only changing her plea on the day of contest.

Concerns were raised by fellow staff members after witnessing Kelly’s conduct with very vulnerable patients.

In one incident, the defendant ‘forcefully’ tried to push footwear on a female patient whose feet were swollen, then ‘unnecessarily’ grabbed her arm causing pain.

In another incident, a nurse witnessed Kelly ‘aggressively’ telling a male patient to sit down then pushed him into a wheelchair from which he tried to get out, nearly falling in the process.

Prosecution counsel said Kelly’s conduct was, “Demeaning, distressing and reckless. The impact for the victims’ families was exacerbated by the pandemic as they weren’t able to see their relatives and were receiving information about the incidents but unable to check they were OK. They found that extremely difficult.”

The defence barrister explained Kelly was struggling to cope with the pressure of her job and this had been heightened by the Covid pandemic.

Upholding the prison terms but reducing it by one month the judge told Kelly, “A nurse is a role which rightly comes with the expectation of the highest standards of professionalism, providing dignity and care to the most vulnerable. Your conduct failed to meet these standards and in turn you failed your noble profession.”