A NURSE at a Lancashire care home who berated an elderly patient and placed another in ‘time out’ has been suspended by a health watchdog.

Ian Maher, who worked at Buckshaw Retirement Village, Chorley, was also hauled before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for several medication blunders.

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The registered nurse, who had been only been working in the Churchill Unit at The Lodge for a fortnight, claimed there had been a ‘witch hunt’ by colleagues.

But an NMC misconduct panel ruled that there was no evidence to suggest ‘any personal motives, malicious or ill-feelings towards him’ before he was referred to the disciplinary body.

Maher admitted to five medication charges, before the London hearing, and five further offences, revolving around his professional behaviour towards three patients, were found proved.

The panel was told the nurse, who was not present or represented at the hearing, had told one wheelchair-bound resident with challenging behaviours, to ‘shut up’ on more than occasion, on a date in September 2015.

He was also said by a witness to have leaned over the resident’s wheelchair and told him to ‘be quiet’ in what was considered to be a menacing way. Eyewitnesses said they considered his voice to be ‘excessively loud’ in the circumstances. The same man was also placed in ‘time out’ in his room by Maher, who claimed he did this to protect other home users. But the panel heard that the elderly man was relatively immobile and would not have presented a danger to others.

One colleague said the resident could not reach his buzzer to call for assistance and was left without a nurse or carer to look after him.

Grace Forbes, for the NMC, said the nurse had also administered ‘teatime’ doses of warfarin to another resident and the wrong dosage on another day.

Maher was also found to have left a medication trolley open and accessible to a third resident. Imposing a six-month suspension, misconduct panel chairman Caroline Healy, said: “Mr Maher breached a fundamental tenet of the profession and although no physical harm was caused to the resident, his actions did cause a resident emotional distress.”