A MENTAL health nurse working in Birchwood has been struck off the nursing register after being caught drinking alcohol on duty, which had been swiped from a dementia resident's room.

Clare Peters was called before the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) following incidents over Christmas 2012 at Abbey Court Hospital, which cares for 20 adults with dementia.

The hearing heard Mrs Peters was working a shift on December 23, 2012 when she decided to make a boozy drink for the residents.

It was alleged she used lager that had been left over from the residents' Christmas party but after deciding there was 'not enough' she told a support worker to take lager from one of the resident's rooms.

She made jugs of shandy with the lager and was seen to have a glass herself, the hearing heard.

On Christmas day it was discovered Mrs Peters had not given a resident their medication, did not sign a prescription chart for another resident and other errors on charts were found on December 27.

The hearing then heard she had lied about forgetting the medication and instead claimed the patient had refused it.

It was also alleged on December 27, Mrs Peters fell asleep on duty before she was suspended the following day.

Mrs Peters did not attend and was not represented at the hearing in London earlier this month but a call to her case officer was read out in which she said she found the whole process 'very stressful' and 'she didn't want to practise again anyway'.

The panel added: "Mrs Peters’ misconduct had constituted a serious departure from the relevant professional standards, had put patients at unwarranted risk of harm, had involved an

abuse of position, an abuse of trust and violation of the rights of a vulnerable patient.

"Further it had involved dishonesty.

"In all of these circumstances, having balanced Mrs Peters’ interests with the interests of the profession, the panel concluded that her misconduct was fundamentally incompatible with her

continuing to be a registered nurse."

A spokesman for Alternative Futures Group, which runs Abbey Court Hospital, said: “We are committed to providing the very highest standards of care for the people we support across the North West.

“We take all allegations seriously and can confirm this nurse is a former employee who was suspended in 2012 as soon as the allegations were made.

“We referred this case to the NMC and welcome its decision.”