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Nurse suspended after forcing medication into patient’s mouth

Nursing and Midwifery Council panel heard that Reni Kirilova forced medication into a person with dementia's mouth at Chocolate Quarter Care Home in Bristol

Nursing and Midwifery Council panel heard that Reni Kirilova forced medication into a person with dementia's mouth at Chocolate Quarter Care Home in Bristol

Chocolate Quarter Care Home in Bristol
Chocolate Quarter Care Home in Bristol

A nurse has been suspended for three months by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after forcing medication into a person with dementia's mouth.

An NMC Fitness to Practise (FtP) panel found Reni Kirilova had forced medicine into the patient’s mouth, held her mouth closed and shouted ‘take your tablets’ while working at the Chocolate Quarter Care Home in Bristol, run by the St Monica Trust.

Patient was reportedly distressed, waving her hands and shouting

The incident occurred on 30 May 2019, seven days after Ms Kirilova began working at the care home on 23 May. She was suspended on 7 June pending a police investigation and she resigned the same day.

Ms Kirilova was later interviewed by police and they took no further action against her.

One witness told the NMC hearing that they saw the nurse’s fingers go over the patient’s mouth for around 30 seconds while the patient was ‘flapping her hands’ and ‘trying to spit them out’.

They added the patient was distressed and was ‘waving her hands everywhere’ and shouting ‘no, no, no’.

Ms Kirilova denied the allegations and said that she had given the patient some water and then tilted the patient’s chin to help her swallow.

Registrant’s failure to cope with stressful situations risks repetition

The panel found that the allegation she held her hand over the patient’s mouth was not true but that she had held it closed in some way, after three witnesses corroborated this.

Ms Kirilova submitted a reflective piece for her evidence and said that she ‘probably forgot to be courteous with "please" and "thank you" when speaking to patient A as she was in a stressful situation, being unfamiliar with the home and residents’.

But the panel said they were not satisfied that she had considered how she would cope with stressful situations in the future and there was a risk it could happen again.

The report stated: ‘The panel was not convinced that you understand and accept the seriousness of any nurse inappropriately and forcefully treating and handling a patient.

‘The panel was of the view that there is a risk of repetition and decided that a finding of impairment is necessary on the grounds of public protection.’

Ms Kirilova has been suspended for three months. She has 28 days to appeal against the decision.

St Monica Trust’s director of people Julie Haydon said: ‘The well-being of our residents is of paramount importance to the trust and we take any allegations that may compromise their safety extremely seriously.’


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