TWO workers employed by a Blackburn care home will face misconduct hearings next month.

The separate cases involve alleged misconduct by nurses at Old Gates Residential and Nursing Home in Feniscowles in 2011, and if proved, could mean their fitness to work is impaired.

Regina Privonitz has been accused of dishonestly taking cigarettes from residents at the home in October of that year.

She faces a three-day hearing convened by the Nursing and Midwifery Council [NMC] in London, which is due to start on October 7.

Bupa, which runs the home, said she was suspended and later dismissed.

Meanwhile, Neena Joseph, who was then a unit manager at the home, has been accused of failing to manage a patient’s abdominal pain effectively in February and March, also in 2011.

She allegedly did not use the recognised pain scale tool, did not update the resident’s personal care plan and did not liaise effectively with the resident about the pains.

It is also said she failed to raise a safeguarding alert, or complete an incident report form, when a complaint was made about inappropriate behaviour between a member of staff and a resident on June 17 the same year.

She will appear before the miscoduct panel in London on October 8.

Bupa said she was suspended, but following a disciplinary hearing returned to the Livesey Branch Road home in a different role.

The company added in a statement: “The welfare of residents is always our first priority.”