Nurse accused of filling out inaccurate timesheets and assessments may have to wait months to know outcome
A nurse who is accused of filling out inaccurate timesheets and assessments relating to her niece may have to wait months to know the outcome.
Wendy Gilbert was a Band 6 nurse at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) at the time the incidents are alleged to have happened between April 13 and May 3 of 2020.
Ms Gilbert is also accused of signing off the employee’s final assessment on or around June 14, 2020 despite not being a registered assessor, and signing it off with incomplete or inaccurate information relating to the employee’s sickness absence.
The charges are subject to change and can be amended by a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) substantive hearing panel until they are proven.
At the time, Ms Gilbert, who is now deputy manager of Stretton Hall Nursing Home in Church Stretton, worked on Ward 28 at the trust.
SaTH’s website states that it is a Frailty Assessment Unit at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital.
The hearing has so far heard from Deborah Millington, who is currently the clinical quality lead at NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin.
She investigated Ms Gilbert’s alleged conduct with a statement written on her behalf on May 31, 2023. Ms Millington said it was “incumbent” on Ms Gilbert to make sure the form was correctly completed and because she wasn’t an assessor, shouldn’t have signed it. She added that Ms Gilbert had full understanding of what is expected of somebody.
Meanwhile, Sharon Main, who is a ward manager at SaTH, has told the hearing that she had a good working relationship with Ms Gilbert, someone she has know for around 20 years.
However, when she was informed that Ms Gilbert had reportedly signed documentation in relation to a student nurse, she was told to prevent her from accessing to the e-roster system that all staff members have.
It was only after the alleged incidents took place though that Ms Main became aware that Ms Gilbert and the student nurse are related. However, she told the hearing that, even though it would have caused a conflict of interest, she did not have a problem with it.
Central to the case is a reflective piece that the student nurse, referred to as Employee 1, is said to have written following the alleged incidents.
And it is that document – as well as the investigation report that her university carried out – that the panel want access to in order for the hearing to progress.
On Wednesday (October 1), the panel’s chair, Rachel Forster, made an order for the NMC to make enquiries to obtain the documents.
“Once we have that information, we will be in a better position to make an assessment as to whether it’s proportionate to call her to give evidence.”
However, providing an update on Thursday (October 2) Alistair Sloan, who is the NMC’s case presenter, said the university don’t know if they have access to the reflective piece.
Because the hearing has been scheduled to finish on Friday (October 3), Mr Sloan said it would be unrealistic for it to conclude within the scheduled time frame given that all parties will have to consider the documentation.
He explained that the university was contacted at 9.20am on Thursday, however he had not received a response. Ms Forster said that a lot hinged on the document, and it should have been sorted five years ago. She added that it had also been flagged by the panel and Ms Gilbert earlier in the week.
Therefore, it is highly likely that the case will be part heard, meaning that Ms Gilbert will have to wait possibly months before it is rescheduled.
The hearing is set to resume on Friday to see how it can progress.
