Colchester nurse struck off for withholding morphine from brain tumour patient for being 'lazy'

A care home nurse has been struck off after he gave a brain tumour patient sugar and water instead of pain relief.

Vijayan Rajoo said he felt the patient was "just being lazy" and did not need pain relief.

Rajoo, 64, also failed to check supplies in the controlled drug cupboards at the start and end of his shifts, according to a misconduct panel.

He was struck off for 18 months after a deputy manager at the home, St Fillans in Colchester, Essex, discovered 20ml of liquid morphine Oramorph was unaccounted for in June 2019.

Rajoo later confessed to not giving the brain tumour patient a dose of Oramorph as a form of pain relief as he felt the patient "did not need it".

It was reported the patient could immediately tell the sugar and water mix "didn't taste right".

The misconduct panel found all charges against Rajoo proven. In their conclusions, the panel said Rajoo showed a "serious lack of compassion".

They said: "The panel concluded that Mr Rajoo had in the past acted so as to put patients at unwarranted risk of harm."

In an email in response to the council, Rajoo said: "I have not been practising as a nurse or have any intention of practising in the near or distant future. I am 64 years old and I have completely retired from nursing in all capacity. So whatever the outcome, it is of no relevance to me any more."

A spokesman for Excelcare, which runs St Fillans Care Home, said: "Excelcare is proud that in 2019 the actions of this one individual were picked up and reported by the team members on duty. This led to the investigation which resulted in this nurse being dismissed.

"Compassion, professionalism, and truth are the keystones of our approach to all care, our investigation found these to be lacking in this case."

"We want to thank the team at St Fillans for all they do every day and for always advocating for the people they support, especially where a person is not able to do this for themselves."

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