A NURSE reacted to a stroke patient having a fit by calling NHS 24 – half an hour after the emergency started.
Rather than immediately summon an ambulance, Sonia Mamaril carried the woman to her room and placed her in the recovery position.
Despite the patient, who was not a known epileptic, continuing to fit, Mamaril waited 30 minutes before dialling NHS 24. A GP then called for an ambulance.
Mamaril escaped being struck off
The woman, who was being looked after in a care home in Cumbernauld, North Lanarkshire, died a few months later although there was nothing to suggest the incident was linked.
Mamaril was today given a two-year caution order by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), meaning she can practice but must tell potential employers of the black mark on her record.
A hearing in Edinburgh was told that Mamaril, who trained overseas before qualifying to nurse in the UK, was suspended from her post at Carrickstone House Care Home following the January 2010 incident.
She had worked at the home, which comprised four units each with 20 beds and a day centre, since 2004.
Mamaril admitted all charges but denied her fitness to practice as a nurse was impaired.
The panel heard that on January 1, 2010 Mamaril was working as the nurse in charge of the Dullatar unit when the female patient, who had previously suffered a stroke, began fitting while in the breakfast room of the care home.
The woman, who was referred to as Patient A, was carried to her room and placed in the recovery position.
Despite being told to call 999 by a less senior nurse, Mamaril eventually dialled NHS 24.
The doctor who took the call subsequently called an ambulance.
The panel heard evidence from Karen Cruise, a registered nurse who worked as the manager at the care home.
She said Patient A began fitting around 8.25am but “the first call was not made until 8.53”.
“Miss Mamaril was not able to give and explanation for the delay.
“I would expect a nurse to make an appropriate decision as to what was an emergency based on the basic training.
“It was an emergency situation because Patient A was not a known epileptic and was fitting.
“I would have expected Mrs Mamaril to have identified it as an emergency situation.”
Patient A was taken to hospital for treatment before being returned to the home.
Ms Cruise said: “Patient A was unconscious for several days in a medically induced coma. She was in a more frail state on return to the unit.
“She died a few months later
“I can’t say if [the incident] contributed to her death.
“I don’t believe there was anything related to the incident detailed on the lady’s death certificate.”
The panel heard that in November the previous year she had called an ambulance in a non-emergency situation.
Paramedics did not know which patient they were supposed to be treating or who had made the phone call.
They eventually found the supposed casualty sitting up drinking tea and watching television.
Mamaril was not reprimanded over the incident because it was felt that she had not placed patients at risk.
