A NURSE who lied for five years about her actions in the last days of a York musician has been suspended from the nursing register.

Susan Nyakwangwa deliberately deceived an inquest, police and staff at a care home, a nursing professional tribunal declared.

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The agency nurse was working at Thistle Hill Care Centre, Knaresborough, when the condition of one of its residents, Bev Jones, deteriorated. He died in hospital two days later.

The tribunal told Nyakwangwa she had “exposed a patient in your care to an unwarranted risk of harm” and that she had acted in a way that brought the nursing profession into disrepute.

It also said it was concerned that the nurse may be a current risk to patient safety.

Mr Jones’ widow, Lesley, said: “Dishonesty and telling lies is not a mistake - it’s a chosen action by an individual - and when the resulting actions affect others it’s unforgivable”.

Mr Jones, of Copmanthorpe, was 75 when he died.

He was a leading chorister, composer, arranger, teacher and musical director.

Mrs Jones told the tribunal that she had found him “virtually comatose” on his bed when she visited him on February 26, 2016.

She had had no warning from staff that he was ill.

He was not taken to Harrogate Hospital until that evening and died two days later.

Nyakwangwa said she had found that Mr Jones had very high blood sugar levels in the morning of February 26.

She claimed at the tribunal she had rung a local GP about his condition before lunchtime.

She had given a similar account to police, who investigated the circumstances around Mr Jones’ death, the inquest into his death and to two members of the home’s staff.

The tribunal, after hearing that telephone logs showed she did not call before 2pm, decided that she had lied on each occasion.

Pathologist Dr Carl Gray, who carried out a post mortem examination, told the inquest Mr Jones had had several serious illnesses and would probably have still died had he been taken to hospital earlier.

Mrs Jones said she was happy with the tribunal’s findings that Nyakwangwa had lied.

She is taking further steps with regard to what happened in 2016.

“It is absolutely imperative that nurses tell the truth,” she said, because they were dealing with medical matters.

The tribunal suspended Nyakwangwa for 12 months, after which her position could be reviewed.

Its judgement said: “Patients and their families must be able to trust registered nurses with their lives and the lives of their loved ones. To justify that trust, registered nurses must be honest and open and act with integrity.”

The tribunal also said Nyakwangwa needed to understand the seriousness and ramifications of her lies.

They heard February 26 was her first day at the home and that she had more than 40 years in the profession.

She has not worked as a nurse for more than two years for health reasons.

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