Care home nurse struck off after saying resident with dementia did not need birthday cake

A care home nurse has been removed from the professional register after claiming a resident with dementia did not require a birthday cake because they would fail to remember the occasion.

Rossitsa Petkova was banned from the profession by a Nursing and Midwifery Council panel following a finding of misconduct.

The tribunal heard how Ms Petkova suggested to a colleague that staff could eat the cake themselves, arguing the resident would have no recollection of their birthday.

The incidents occurred at Castleford House Nursing Home in Chepstow, Gloucestershire, where Ms Petkova had been employed as a registered nurse for more than ten years.

A total of eight allegations were found proven against her, including the remark about the birthday cake and instances of shouting at residents to "shut up".

Evidence presented to the panel showed she told one resident that their daughter would not visit if they failed to finish their dinner. When another resident apologised for dropping a beaker, she informed them it was their own fault.

She was also found to have yelled at a colleague after they served a resident marmalade on toast.

Ms Petkova denied all allegations relating to incidents at the nursing home between January and October 2023.

During the proceedings, the NMC highlighted testimony from kitchen assistant Melanie Corfield, who described her conversation with Ms Petkova regarding the birthday cake.

"He was in bed, so I asked Rossi what she would like me to do with the cake," she said.

"She told me that I have to remember he doesn’t have capacity, that he wouldn’t even know it was his birthday and to pretty much not make a big thing of it.

"I replied, ‘It’s not the fact that he hasn’t got capacity, this is his birthday. And to me, everybody deserves a birthday, dementia or not, so we will get one of the girls to take it up’ and Rossi said, ‘Or if not, we can eat the cake’."

Ms Petkova denied making the comments about the cake, suggesting that colleagues "felt they had a clear run into the office to make pointless and childish complaints, particularly about me".

The NMC panel noted that the residents involved were elderly and vulnerable.

In its ruling, the panel stated that the nurse had shown a "reprehensible and dismissive attitude towards the NMC as regulator during these proceedings".

"The panel found that Ms Petkova displayed a deep-seated attitude of being dismissive towards all clinical and caring concerns, attempting to place the blame onto others, and being disparaging towards junior colleagues", they concluded.

The panel added that Ms Petkova demonstrated a "deep-seated attitude that is entrenched and therefore more difficult to remediate" and offered no evidence of insight, remorse or strengthening of practice.

"The panel found that Ms Petkova’s actions were significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse, and are fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register.

"The panel considered that the public expect their family members to be well cared for if they need to enter a residential care home and that Ms Petkova’s actions of abuse and wide-ranging disregard for the wellbeing of the vulnerable patients in her care would fundamentally damage public confidence in the profession.

"The panel was of the view that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that Ms Petkova’s actions were serious and to allow her to continue practising would not protect the public and would significantly undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body.

"Balancing all of these factors and after taking into account all the evidence before it during this case, the panel determined that the appropriate and proportionate sanction is that of a striking-off order."