A senior officer at a Dundee care home was fairly dismissed for not applying ointments to five residents with prescribed medical conditions.
An employment tribunal in the city has ruled that Janice McMeekin was correctly found guilty of gross misconduct for her actions at Magdalen House, Roseangle, a home for adults with learning disabilities.
The panel also found in all the circumstances that dismissal was a reasonable sanction for the Priority Care Group to impose.
Miss McMeekin, a senior care officer who was sometimes in charge of the home, had been suspended on full pay in February last year.
There was an incident concerning a staff member who had turned up under the influence of alcohol. It was alleged Miss McMeekin had allowed the staff member to remain in the sleepover room rather than send her home.
After an investigation Miss McMeekin was given a formal written warning to remain on her file for a year.
That warning had just expired when evidence emerged that she had not applied creams to the feet of a female resident which she was supposed to do.
Then evidence arose that she had not properly applied prescribed ointment to the eyes of a male resident. In this case the man had to be taken to hospital because of his anxious state.
After three more cases came to light, senior management stepped in and spoke to Miss McMeekin. She denied failing to apply the ointments and also alleged that the other staff ”had it in for her.”
It was put to her that she may have difficulty applying the ointments. This was suggested with the aim of giving her an ”out,” and which would have allowed her to be given support and assistance, but she said she was fine and could manage her job.
Two further issues came to light with medication administered by Miss McMeekin, and she was asked to attend a disciplinary meeting in March 2012.
She said those who claimed she had not administered the ointments were not speaking the truth, but she did admit to having problems with her eyesight and with her varifocal glasses.
Priority Care Group manager Linda Cuthill, who conducted the disciplinary hearing, concluded that Miss McMeekin was guilty of not applying the creams and this was seriously detrimental to the clients’ health.
Administration of topical medicines such as ointment was as serious as any other kind of medication, and she placed Miss McMeekin’s behaviour in the category of gross misconduct.
Miss McMeekin was dismissed, a punishment later upheld after an appeal.