St Austell nursing home matron failed to provide pain relief to a dying man

A nursing home matron failed to provide pain relief to a dying man and refused to call an ambulance despite multiple pleas to do so. Janice Powell, 68, from Retallick Meadows, St Austell, narrowly avoided a jail sentence when she appeared before Truro Crown Court for sentence today (Friday, June 14), having pleaded guilty to one charge of wilful neglect with regard to John Orchard, one of the residents in her care.

The court heard that between February 21 and 26, 2019, Powell was a highly experienced nurse employed at a nursing home in the town. But it was heard that as Mr Orchard's health deteriorated over that weekend, Powell did not administer pain relief despite the growing concerns of his wife, nor did she call an ambulance for him - ignoring the pleas by others to do so.

That action was only taken the next day when another nurse started her shift. The court heard that Mr Orchard was eventually taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital at Treliske where he later died.

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Heather Hope, prosecuting, said that while there was no link between Powell's actions and Mr Orchard's death, her lack of action had been a serious failing on her part as a care professional and led Mr Orchard to suffer needlessly for at least 24 hours - something His Honour Judge Simon Carr said would have "seemed like a lifetime" for Mr Orchard's wife who shared a room with him at the time.

Ms Hope said Mrs Orchard reported how her husband was complaining of pain and asked for paracetamol and other pain relief to be administered to him. She said Mrs Orchard also asked for her husband to be taken to the emergency department as she thought his health was going down hill fast.

However the court was told that Powell said there was no need for an ambulance to be called. Ms Hope told the court that during the day, while Powell was on duty, other members of staff at the nursing home also reported seeing Mr Orchard slumped in his chair, being grey in colour and looking very pale and ill.

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When Mrs Orchard and other members of staff thought Mr Orchard's condition had deteriorated further, an ambulance was eventually called so oxygen could be administered. Powell was interviewed by police after Mr Orchard's death in hospital and said in her interview that a lot of Mr Orchard's care was provided by his wife as she was very involved.

She also said she thought the pain he suffered in his side was from a previous seatbelt injury during a past car accident and had nothing to do with the oesophagus issues he was increasingly suffering from. Daniel Pawson-Pounds, defending, insisted that Powell's actions were not causative to Mr Orchard's death and had to be seen in a professional context.

He said that none of her actions had been malicious and Powell had been a woman of positive good character all her life, adding that this had been a "momentary lapse of judgment". He said the incident and the length of time it had taken for the case to come to court had had a serious impact on her mental health.

Sentencing Powell to 12 months in prison suspended for two years, Judge Carr said the case had highlighted the "atrocious record keeping at the nursing home", adding: "You were a highly experienced nurse employed as a matron in a hands-on role with medical care in charge of the most vulnerable people in society - the elderly.

"It is clear that Mr Orchard was very ill on that Sunday. Others including Mr Orchard's wife were asking for him to be taken to hospital as his condition got worse. Your failure to follow through on that is why you are here.

"The 24 hours during which Mr Orchard was not receiving the care he should have received, including pain medication and end-of-life care the hospital would have provided, must have seemed like a lifetime for his wife. Other nurses realised that this was a serious situation and an ambulance support was summoned.

"You have shown genuine remorse for your failings on that day. You are a person of impeccable good character. You dedicated your life to others. Your mental health has suffered. But people in society, families, place their loved ones in care homes so they are safe. Mr Orchard was badly let down on this occasion."