Hospice nurse struck off after betting a patient would die on Christmas Day

A hospice nurse who bet her colleagues a sick patient would die on Christmas Day has been struck off.

Naomi Butcher, 60, from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, falsely recorded she had given a patient the correct dosage when she had actually administered ten times that.

The former care home manager also refused a traveller family’s request to see their loved one by claiming they would ‘burn the body in a caravan’.

She has now been struck off from the nursing register after a Fitness to Practice Committee found she had committed misconduct and that her fitness to practise is imparied.

The misconduct took place while she was working at St Peter and St James Hospice, in Lewes, East Sussex, which promises ‘compassionate care’ for people with life-limiting illness.

However in one incident in December 2023, Butcher referred to a patient at the hospice and said words to the effect of: ‘I make a bet with all of you that he will die on Christmas Day.’

Three months later she then blocked a family from coming to visit their loved one who had just passed away because they were from the traveller community.

She told colleagues the relatives ‘would stay for hours because they are gypsies’ and said ’20 of them’ would turn up.

Butcher claimed that the traveller community ‘burn their bodies in caravans when they die’.

These comments were found to be discriminatory, as well as ‘unacceptable, degrading and unprofessional’ by the tribunal panel.

They said her decision to refuse the family permission to visit would have caused ’emotional and psychological distress’.

The panel’s judgement added: ‘The panel therefore found Mrs Butcher’s actions to be an extremely serious breach of fundamental standards of professional conduct and behavior that a registered nurse is expected to maintain and that they would be seen as deplorable by other members of the profession.’

On the same day as the incident with the traveller, the committee heard that Butcher had put a male patient ‘a risk of death’.

She administered 50mg of Midazolam – a type of benzodiazepine used for sedation and anxiety relief – over 24 hours, instead of 5mg.

The nurse then falsely recorded that she had given the correct dosage of the drug, which is three times more potent than diazepam.

The day before, Butcher gave the wrong drug to another patient, giving them oxycodone instead of morphine sulphate.

There were also other occasions where she failed to administer medication to patients when she should have, or gave them the wrong dose.

One patient was left in pain after Butcher did not give them a full oxycodone dose.

The nurse also failed to check in a box of morphine sulphate tablets to the hospice’s drug control cupboard.

Butcher admitted all the allegations against her except the comments about the traveller commuity ‘burning bodies in caravans’.

She did accept that she had made the other comments about the family.

However the allegation was found proven after Butcher did not turn up to the hearing to dispute it and following the evidence of a colleague who witnessed the comment.

The tribunal heard evidence from Kelly Viner, who said: ‘Until the incident on 12 March 2024, I have never come across a situation where a family was turned down from seeing their loved one. On this day, Naomi and I and 2 others were at our desks in the nurses’ office, writing up patient notes.

‘Then Naomi said she had just got a call from Patient X’s (then deceased) family saying they wanted to come and see Patient X again but she said no to them coming to the Hospice […] She also said they normally burn their bodies in caravans when they die.’

Kelly Viner reported the incident the next day, the committee heard.

A second employee added they were told by a member of staff that ‘Naomi was talking about how the family were gypsies and so they would burn the patient in a caravan’.

The hospice warned Butcher in an email while she was on holiday in March 2024 that they would be speaking to her about the medication errors.

But they were unable to do so because she handed in her resignation six days later and went on sick leave.

St Peter and St James Hospice referred Butcher’s conduct to the Nursing and Midwifery Council on April 4 of that year. 

In the ruling published this week, the committee said Butcher had ‘not taken any steps to address the concerns raised in relation to her clinical practice’.

The hearing heard Butcher has not been involved in frontline care since leaving the hospice.

Butcher told the Daily Mail she is now disabled, adding: ‘I requested twice to self-removal from the register.

‘They refused because they wanted to strike me off. I should never have gone back to acute nursing and family issues meant mistakes happened.’

The nurse will be struck off from the register after the end of a 28-day appeal period.

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