Karen Jane Makinson was found to be ‘extremely intoxicated’ during a shift at Church House Nursing Home, Nantwich, Cheshire, putting residents at significant risk
A care home nurse has been struck off after a tribunal ruled she turned up to work “drunk” and required assistance from colleagues to arrange a taxi home.
Karen Jane Makinson was “extremely intoxicated” while on duty at Church House Nursing Home, Nantwich, Cheshire, on June 4, 2024, placing residents at “significant risk of harm”, a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel determined.
She was observed swaying as she moved around the 44-bed nursing home, which cares for residents with dementia, those vulnerable to strokes or receiving end-of-life care, the panel heard. She was sacked on June 14, 2024. Ms Makinson rejected the charges levelled against her.
Providing testimony to the tribunal, her workmates detailed how she was chuckling at inappropriate moments and was unsteady while struggling to navigate the stairs.
Home manager Robert Hammond revealed he confiscated her car keys after declining to allow her to drive home, stating that a senior carer was forced to assist her in calling a cab because she “simply could not co-ordinate to move her fingers on her phone to book a taxi home”.
During a probationary meeting, Ms Makinson acknowledged she had consumed two glasses of wine at lunchtime roughly eight hours prior to her shift and suggested she may have seemed unstable because she was responding to a text message while walking.
She also claimed she couldn’t use her phone to arrange a taxi due to being unfamiliar with the recently installed app. The panel deemed her version of events “implausible” and accepted the witnesses’ testimony, according to a written judgement.
They determined it was more probable than not that Ms Makinson turned up for work when she was unfit to perform her nursing duties safely due to being under the influence of alcohol. They also established that the allegation she was staggering or swaying while walking was proven.
Her conduct was ruled to have violated the code and constituted misconduct. The panel stated: “The panel was of the view that in attending work as the nurse in charge and the only nurse on shift, providing clinical care to vulnerable residents while under the influence of alcohol, was very serious misconduct and fell far below the standards expected of a registered nurse.
“The panel concluded from the evidence that Ms Makinson was extremely intoxicated and that her co-ordination, judgment and behaviour were all adversely affected as a consequence.
“It was of the view that someone who was intoxicated to this extent would be unlikely to recognise a deteriorating patient or respond appropriately if an emergency situation arose, placing residents at a significant risk of harm.”
The panel ruled Ms Makinson’s fitness to practise was currently impaired and imposed a 12-month suspension.
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