A nurse at a Devon care home where seven people died refused to wear a mask because she believed coronavirus was a conspiracy, a coroner has revealed.
William Wilkinson (102 years old), Doris Lockett (92 years old), Roy Gilliam (96 years old), Jean Hartley (81 years old), Susan Skinner (70 years old), and Ronald Bumpfield. (92 years old) and Stanislawa Koch (93 years old) passed away at Homesley Care Home, Sidford, between March and April 2021.
Devon, Plymouth and Torbay area coroner Alison Longhorn heard that all seven people had contracted the virus and died.
A hearing in Exeter also revealed that the Care Quality Commission (CQC) also visited the home twice in February 2019 and told the home that personal protective equipment (PPE) guidelines were not being followed. The autopsy continues.
The nurse's name has not been released.
“When I first spoke to him, he dismissed his views on the coronavirus as nothing more than a conspiracy,” Gemma Turner, a nursing home assistant manager and registered nurse, said during a public hearing at the county courthouse. expressed,” he said.
He recalled receiving a phone call from a care worker in the early hours of March 2, 2021, adding: “She was crying and said, 'Gemma, the residents are in a terrible condition. I don't know what to do.'” .
“I said, 'Where's the nurse?' And she said, 'He's refusing to wear a mask, walking around the house, saying coronavirus is a conspiracy.' .
Ms Turner added: “While I can have personal views on him, I have to keep them to myself and while working with elderly people who are frail and at risk. explained that they had to follow guidelines.
“He said he would. The next time I spoke to him, I told him he wasn't wearing a mask but needed to wear one and that at the time he had a medical issue and was breathing. said it was difficult.
“I said he knew the rules and needed to wear a mask, but we didn’t have a medical exemption.”
When asked about his overall impressions of that time, Turner replied: It's sad for the residents. ”
