Elaine Chase Faces Four Misconduct Charges

Elaine Chase faces four misconduct charges

A nurse who injected a terminally ill teenager with morphine twice in five minutes has insisted she was acting on instructions and in his best interests.

The 16-year old boy, who was suffering from cancer, died a couple of hours after Elaine chase gave him the pain-killing drug.

On Friday, the 51-year old fro Benfleet, Essex, insisted the boy's comfort was her priority.

She denied four misconduct charges at the Nursing and Midwifery council.

Following instructions

The boy dies in 1998 after Ms Chase had visited his house after receiving a telephone call from the boy's father who said his son was deeply distressed.

She gave him his intravenous dose of morphine at 1330 BST - earlier than usual. It was one of three doses he had each day at eight hour intervals.

Ms Chase told the tribunal the drugs seemed to have little effect and after contacting the boy's GP, Dr Jenny Thorpe, for instructions, another dose was administered about five minutes later.

"I was following instructions by the GP for the second dose of morphine and that was given verbally on the phone," she said.

Death was connected

"If she was happy for that to happen, I did not see why I should not give the second dose."

Colleagues of the nurse have also told the tribunal they rejected suggestions that her actions were connected to the boy's death.

The charges against Ms Chase include failing to act in a collaborative manner with colleagues as well as injecting the boy twice within five minutes.

The charges leveled at the nurse all relate to her time at the South Essex Mental Health and Community Care Services NHS Trust in Southend.

The hearing was adjourned until Tuesday.

Nurse guilty of 'failings'

A nurse once suspected of killing dying children was yesterday found guilty of separate professional failings.

Four years ago police probed Elaine Chase, 52, over the alleged mercy killings but never brought criminal charges.

However, in a separate case she was later suspended after giving a dying cancer patient aged 16 two morphine jabs.

Ms Chase, of Benfleet, Essex, was also said to have failed to properly document treatment of a handicapped teenager. Both later died.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council cleared her on both counts.

But it found she broke rules by giving the cancer patient the first jab without asking a doctor. It also found she was uncooperative with colleagues.

The incidents took place while she worked for a South Essex NHS Trust.

The hearing ran out of time while considering whether they amounted to misconduct. It was adjourned to a later date.

The act done by nurse Elaine Chase was, let us consider for now, a mistake. This is in the basis of the statements and evaluations given from the "facts" portion of this paper. In the determination of Ms Elaine's considering