Nurse sanctioned over woman's death at Cawston Park Hospital

Annita Nyabunze faced a Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing over failings in the death of 36-year-old Joanna Bailey at the now-closed Cawston Park Hospital.

Ms Bailey, who had severe learning disabilities, died in the private hospital on April 28, 2018. She had been cared for at the facility for two years.

Cawston Park Hospital, where Joanna Bailey died

More than six years later and Ms Nyabunze has been sanctioned over the night of Ms Bailey's death, following a hearing held over 10 days between November last year and May.

The panel ruled that Ms Nyabunze,  the nurse in charge on the night in question, had failed to ensure CPR was started when Ms Bailey was found unresponsive in her room.

The incident, at approximately 3.13am, saw Ms Nyabunze carry out an initial assessment on Ms Bailey. She could not find a pulse and could not tell if she was breathing.

It found she had then left her room to collect equipment to further assess her, but did not recognise she was in cardiac arrest at this point.

However, while the panel found it proven that Ms Nyabunze had failed to react appropriately to Ms Bailey's needs - it stopped short of striking her off.

Instead, Ms Nyabunze will have to continue work under a range of conditions - including preventing her from being nurse in charge during any shifts and frequently being assessed by supervisors. 

At the time she was working for Jeesal Group, which ran the hospital but has since been liquidated. She currently works in Hertfordshire.

The report reads: "This incident happened a long time ago and that, other than this incident, you have had an unblemished career of 12 years as a nurse."

It added that due to this fact, there was a public interest in her continuing in nursing with "appropriate safeguards" in place.