By IANS,
London : A nurse in Britain has been dismissed from service for mistakenly giving an elderly woman an insulin overdose — ten times the recommended quantity — and causing the pensioner’s death.
District nurse Helen Burke was fired by National Health Service (NHS) Trafford for gross misconduct following the death of 89-year-old Nellie Worrall, the Daily Mail reported.
An inquest heard how great-great-grandmother Worrall, who was diabetic and also suffering from stomach cancer and heart disease, regularly received six units of insulin in the mornings.
But when Burke visited the pensioner?s home on her rounds, she administered a dose of 60 units – 10 times more than normal.
The inquest at Stockport coroner?s court heard that Burke also failed to call an ambulance after the blunder in September 2009. The patient was taken to hospital only after an hour.
Burke, despite admitting the blunder, will not face legal action after prosecutors ruled there was insufficient evidence against her. She was, however, sacked after an internal disciplinary investigation ruled her actions amounted to gross misconduct.