Miriam Merten death: Nurse on duty the night she died had history of abusing patients
THE nurse accused of letting Miriam Merten die after dumping her drugged and naked in a tiny “seclusion” room faced disciplinary action two years before the tragedy.
NSW
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THE senior nurse accused of letting a patient die of brain injuries after dumping her drugged and naked in a tiny “seclusion” room for hours had faced disciplinary action two years before the tragedy for calling a vulnerable patient a “piece of s ...”.
Internal documents leaked to The Daily Telegraph reveal experienced nurse Christine Borthistle also told another mental health patient “I’ll flatten you” after he raised concerns about smelling smoke.
And her colleagues claimed she was abusive, with one manager saying she was so “hostile” and “harrassive” that he “couldn’t sleep”.
Ms Borthistle was in charge of the care of Miriam Merten at Lismore Base Hospital when the mother-of-two died in 2014 even though the facility had investigated the senior nurse years earlier for “derogatory and disrespectful” comments to patients.
The Northern NSW Health District had even gone so far as to have her sacked in November 2011, but she was later reinstated after appealing the dismissal.
The documents obtained by The Daily Telegraph show that in one disturbing incident on February 21, 2011, Ms Borthistle called a patient “a piece of s …” during a handover.
Ms Borthistle admitted to making the comment, claiming the patient had been “very difficult” and she thought she was in “a safe environment” to vent.
She also denied claims from the nursing unit manager that the patient had been present.
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Yet the next day Ms Borthistle allegedly “walked away” from the nursing manager when he tried to confront her over the issue.
In another incident on the same day, Ms Borthistle admitted to yelling at another mental health patient “I’ll flatten you” after they said they could smell smoke.
The investigation report, conducted by North Coast Appraisals, found both claims against Ms Borthistle were sustained.
There were also claims Ms Borthistle had yelled at an “acutely unwell patient” to “stay away from the nurse’s station” on February 20 in 2011.
Ms Borthistle, a registered wildlife carer, was finally sacked in November 2011 for bringing bats and other animals onto the ward despite fears they spread “rabies and bat lyssavirus infection”.
However, she won her job back in February 2012 when the Nurses and Midwives Association took the case to the Industrial Relations Commission. The Daily Telegraph understands evidence of Ms Borthistle verbally abusing patients was not used as part of the hospital’s case against her.
When asked how Ms Borthistle was disciplined, district chief executive Wayne Jones said she was subject to an ongoing performance management plan: “Ms Borthistle was required to attend regular meetings with the nursing unit manager, as well as regular meetings with the network manager and Nurses and Midwives’ Association.”
An Industrial Relations Commission spokeswoman yesterday defended the decision to reinstate Ms Borthistle, claiming “every case, is determined on its own merits indicated in the judgment”.
The Nurses Association also stood by their decision to represent Ms Borthistle.
“Members join the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association for representation, where members have a case we provide that representation,” general secretary Brett Holmes said.
The Daily Telegraph last week unearthed sickening CCTV footage of Ms Borthistle and a junior nurse locking Ms Merten in a seclusion room from 11.50pm to 5.10am on June 2 in 2014 “sedated with psychotropic drugs”. Ms Merten fell and hit her head at least 20 times in seclusion.
After she was let out, Ms Borthistle was seen mopping the floor while Ms Merten wandered the corridor for an hour-and-a-half naked and covered in faeces before collapsing.
She died the next day of an acquired brain injury as a result of the falls.
Health Minister Brad Hazzard has ordered a parliamentary inquiry into mental health services across NSW.
He also launched an investigation by the Chief Psychiatrist into the use of seclusion rooms.
Ms Borthistle recently passed away suddenly.
GRIEVING FAMILY’S HOPE FOR CHANGE
The family of mental health patient Miriam Merten have released a powerful statement saying even though Miriam was failed “on every level” they hopef her tragic death will create a “legacy” of “lasting and significant” change in the care of mental health patients in Australia.
In an eloquent statement released via their lawyers yesterday, the family said the painful CCTV footage released by the Daily Telegraph last week should force Australians to “question how anyone could be trated in this way” in an institution where the “sole purpose ought to be to procide care and support for the most vulnerable”.
“Miriam was a mother, sister, a daughter and a cousin. She came from a family who loved her. Had Miriam been provided adequate care during her hospitalisations at Lismore Base Hospital, she would have lived,” the statement reads.
“The CCTV footage makes clear the utter disregard that nursing staff showed towards Miriam while she was clearly in a hypoxia state and her brain was starting to shut down, leading to over twenty-five (25) head traumas.”
“The lessons and questions that arise as a result of this footage are not lessons and questions for our family alone, they are lessons and questions that our society and our institutions must confront and address.”
The family also bravely extend their empathy to the nursing staff.
“While the nurses’ actions were unconscionable, the family wish to express their compassion for them. The family understand that their work is difficult, and want to acknowledge that a staff member did attempt to show Miriam the care she needed but was overruled,” the statement said.
“The family understand that sometimes good people are made to feel powerless by the system. Sadly, the family feel that, on every level, the Adult Mental Health Care Unit at Lismore Base Hospital failed Miriam, and as a result, she was left to die in the most disgraceful and horrific way.”
- Anthony de Ceglie and Annabel Hennessy
A CENTURY OF TRAGIC SECLUSION
THE mental health patient who tragically died after being locked in a “primitive” seclusion room for five hours had reportedly been thrown in seclusion more than 100 times before — a figure which has been slammed as a gross indictment of the system.
It comes as the NSW Opposition last night called for seclusion rooms to be totally banned while the chief psychiatrist investigates their use.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that senior nurse Christine Borthistle used the fact mental health patient Miriam Merten had been locked up “more than 100” times to justify her decision to leave Ms Merten in a tiny seclusion room for five hours with no food or water.
According to court documents, Ms Borthistle told the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal that she hadn’t followed policy in conducting baseline checks on Ms Merten while she was in seclusion because “that requirement did not apply to someone who had been in seclusion over a hundred times”.
The case was blasted as a “monumental disgrace” by coroner Jeff Linden.
Frank Quinlan, chief executive of Mental Health Australia, said the fact Ms Merten had been thrown in seclusion so many times reflected the failures of a system in desperate need of an overhaul.
When asked whether Ms Merten had been locked up “more than one hundred times”, Northern NSW Health District chief executive Wayne Jones said: “Ms Myriam Merten had previously been a patient at the Lismore Mental Health Unit on numerous occasions between 1995 to June 2014.
“Throughout that time, Ms Merten’s care did include multiple episodes of seclusion.”
- Anthony de Ceglie
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