Dudley nurse suspended from duty for failings (From Stourbridge News)

Dudley nurse suspended from duty for failings

11:40am Thursday 31st January 2013 in Local

A DUDLEY health visitor has been suspended from working as a registered nurse for 18 months for ongoing investigations into serious failings in her work.

Linda Whitehouse, a health visitor for the Black Country Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, based in the Brierley Hill team, was given the interim suspension by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) following allegations surrounding her timekeeping and unexplained absences from work after colleagues voiced concerns.

The hearing held in London on January 10, which Mrs Whitehouse didn’t attend, heard how she was suspended from duty on November 8 2011 and underwent a disciplinary hearing, where evidence was heard against her alleged failure to provide adequate care and safeguard vulnerable children and their families in the borough.

Mrs Whitehouse resigned before the conclusion of the hearing, but was dismissed by the Trust for gross misconduct on December 11 2012.

Due to the serious failings in her work, the case was referred to the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

The panel ordered an 18-month interim suspension to enable the NMC to have sufficient time to investigate the allegations and conclude the case.