Police stay tight-lipped on nurses in hearing over death of patient at Stafford Hospital
Police have refused to reveal whether two nurses who failed to give basic life support to an 81-year-old patient are being investigated as part of a huge probe of up to 300 deaths at Stafford Hospital.
Evelyn Agbeko and Theresia Van Der Knaap were working on ward 11 when the woman became unresponsive. But as the pensioner's life drained away, the pair did not start chest compressions or summon the hospital's resuscitation team. Agbeko even recorded the patient as 'asleep' when she had in fact died.
She could be banned from practising after she was this week found guilty of failing to follow hospital procedures at a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council in central London. It was heard that Agbeko and Van Der Knaap were treating the woman after she was admitted to A&E on April 15, 2010.
Van Der Knaap admitted she failed to make adequate entries and to ensure that the resuscitation team were called.
She also admitted she failed to provide adequate basic life support. But the pair denied a number of other allegations against them.
Staffordshire Police has identified between 200 and 300 deaths at the hospital which it is now investigating in the wake of the damning Francis Report which exposed appalling care conditions at the hospital. But the force has refused to disclose whether Agbeko or Van Der Knapp were being investigated in relation to the deaths.
Evidence from the two nurses has revealed the extent of some of the shocking conditions at the troubled Mid Staffordshire trust.
Agbeko told the hearing that bosses had cut staffing levels to the bone and she would often work a 15-hour shift without a break. She described the night the 81-year-old died as the 'worst shift of her life' and said that cutting corners was necessary. "That night was the busiest night of all, we couldn't cope," she said. The hearing continues.
