Health worker struck off over Stafford Hospital abuse
A former Stafford Hospital healthcare assistant has been struck off after she was found to have dragged an elderly dementia patient around by his pyjamas and then called him an animal.
Allegations that Bonka Kostova physically and verbally abused the 73-year-old patient, including telling him "you are no longer a human being but an animal" – or words to that effect – were found proven at a hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in London yesterday, where she was taken off the medical register.
The panel said Ms Kostova's fitness to practice was "currently impaired by reason of her misconduct". She has most recently been working at St Joseph's Convent Nursing Home in Lichfield Road, Stafford, but has now been suspended facing dismissal.
Manager Sue Jaggers said: "When she was employed we had no information she was pending an investigation."
The Bulgarian-qualified midwife, who had been working a night shift as a healthcare support worker at Stafford Hospital at the time, was found to have pushed the man, named only as patient A, into his wheelchair, and to have pushed him into a bathroom and then on to a toilet.
Kostova then pulled the man out of the toilet using the collar of his pyjama top while his trousers were around his ankles, shouting "I hate you" and "you are no longer a human being but an animal", the NMC found.
Staff nurses Jane Wilkinson and Lucian Smith saw the incident and intervened, the hearing was told, taking Kostova into an office and telling her that her behaviour had been "unacceptable" and that they would report the incident.
Mrs Wilkinson, who wept while describing the incident to the tribunal earlier this week, said Kostova was hard working but could sometimes be abrupt with other members of staff.
But Mrs Wilkinson said that was to do with her Bulgarian accent and demeanour. However, on this occasion Kostova, known as Bonnie to colleagues, was "losing it", she added.
The tribunal heard that the patient had been in the hospital just over a month receiving treatment for kidney stones when the incident took place just after 3am on July 22, 2010.
He was said to be aggressive in his speech or manner around 80 per cent of the time and usually had a one-to-one carer looking after him who would sometimes need the assistance of another if the patient became particularly difficult.
On this occasion that carer went for a break, leaving Kostova in charge.
Kostova, who was not at the hearing, had received general training in looking after vulnerable adults, but had not received specific training for dementia patients, ward manager Sharon Matthews told the tribunal.
Mid Staffs Trust's medical director, Robert Courteney-Harris, said: "The member of staff was suspended pending our investigation and never returned to work at our trust."
