Nurse struck off for 'no insight' into drug errors

A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel last week heard Karen Costello failed to administer five lots of drugs, incorrectly calculated stock of blood-thinning Warfarin tablets twice, and failed to sign charts for one or more residents while employed at Marley Court Care Home in Heath Charnock, Chorley, in 2014.

There were also allegations a resident was overdosed with Warfarin and this was not reported to medical staff, however, this was investigated and the Care Quality Commission found no evidence of wrongdoing.

Mrs Costello had previously been given a nine-month suspension by the NMC after the other allegations were proved against her, but this was escalated to a striking off order after she showed “no insight as to the seriousness of her errors, or their potential consequences. In addition, she had provided no evidence of having taken steps to remedy her failures.”

In a report by the NMC, it states: “Mrs Costello pointed to ‘other nurses’ suffering from the same shortcomings in their practice”.

It also states she claimed she felt “perfectly fine and comfortable medicating”.

The panel heard Mrs Costello had resigned from her position in 2014 and did not intend to renew her registration.

But due to concern over a risk of repetition of misconduct, the panel decided a striking-off order was the only order that “would be sufficient to protect the public and satisfy the wider public interest in maintaining public confidence in the profession and the regulatory process.”

Martley Court Care home was unavailable for comment when contacted by the Post.