A NURSE at Warrington Hospital who faced 86 charges over poor patient care and treatment has been suspended for 12 months.

Grace Arkoh-Ankrah was accused of a general 'lack of competence' at a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing last week after problems were reported regarding her treatment of patients with diabetes, checking medication and that she was abrupt and aggressive towards fellow staff members and patients.

The staff nurse, who worked on ward A7 and A8, resigned a month before she was sacked after a catalogue of incidents between February 2011 and June 2012.

The hearing heard Mrs Arkoh-Ankrah described an elderly patient's mouth as 'just a bit red' when she actually had a severe thrush infection and her tongue and inner cheeks were coated with white spots.

During a separate incident she also told a patient to keep 'sipping water' when their complaint was that they were having difficulty eating and drinking.

Errors were also highlighted regarding caring for patients having chest drains, paperwork during handover shifts, updating patient care plans and performing blood sugar tests on diabetic patients.

Experienced staff on both wards were called as witnesses while the panel said Mrs Arkoh-Ankrah's evidence was 'largely inconsistent or unreliable' as she replied over a number of allegations she could not recall them or could not remember it so 'it must not have happened'.

She was assigned an 'informal mentor' following complaints from patients and had a number of meetings and reviews with senior staff.

Thomas Montford, representing Mrs Arkoh-Ankrah argued 'perceived abruptness' was due to a 'difference in cultural background' and the support she received 'amounted to an attempt to find fault that impacted on her confidence and led to more mistakes'.

He also provided references from her current job as an agency healthcare assistant and said she had been unable to undertake training at university because she had been subject to an interim suspension order A report from the hearing added: "Most of your failings related to duties that a band five nurse working in any clinical nursing environment would be expected to be competent in completing to a high standard.

"The panel formed the view that your failings amounted to gross incompetence....and when deficiencies in your practice were highlighted to you by colleagues, you did not appear to learn from your mistakes or take any steps to ensure your mistakes were not repeated."

A spokesman for Warrington Hospital said the case was referred to the NMC in 2011 after it was identified there was an issue with the nurse's 'overall competence' to meet standards of practice.

He added: "We put all of the right steps in place which included supervision and practice support.

"When these opportunities failed to demonstrate an improvement she resigned from post before further action could be taken.

"In line with our duty to protect the public, patients and staff we informed the NMC which led to this hearing and we’re pleased to see they have completed their investigation and implemented actions accordingly.”