‘Foul-mouthed’ care manager says she was bullied

Published on 01/02/2013 12:20

A CARE manager accused of foul-mouthed tirades against colleagues in an old people’s home has said she has no intention of returning to nursing – and claimed she was a victim of workplace bullying.

Registered nurse Antoinette Galloway could be barred from the profession following reports she swore at staff in Pentland Hills Care home, branding them “liars” and, in one case, remarking “Go and have a w***.”

The 42-year-old, a former unit manager at the home, is also alleged to have “inappropriately” allowed her partner to enter the home on several 
occasions.

It is alleged Ms Galloway swore in front of home residents – many of whom are elderly or disabled.

Today, Ms Galloway admitted she had allowed her partner to enter the home “for the best of intentions” and said she was a “good nurse” who “was honest from the very start”.

She said: “I did do wrong by allowing my then partner to come into the seating area. He was Spanish and we had a resident at the home who had spent time in Gibraltar for many years and I thought it would be nice for him to speak with a Spaniard. Other staff had brought in guests, I was not doing anything different to anyone else.”

And she said colleagues had conspired to drive her out of the job.

“There was a nurse who wanted my job and they got two carers to say things against me who I had to pick up for not doing their job properly.

“It was pure and utter bullying. I became really depressed through all this. I have no intention to go back into nursing because this whole thing has knocked my confidence and I was a very good nurse.”

She said Pentland Hills Care Home, a Bupa-run service where she worked from July to December 2009, was “a horrific place to work”.

It provides long-term nursing care, convalescence and respite, palliative care and specialist care for older people with dementia or physical 
disabilities.

Ms Galloway, a mother-of-two, also faces allegations she told one colleague “Don’t tell porky pies”, and also said “If I wanted to call you a liar, I would call you a f****** liar”.

In November 2009, she is alleged to have said: “Do I not get a f****** break?”

Kenny Valentine, director of Bupa Scotland, said: “We dismissed Antoinette Galloway almost three years ago when she failed to meet the high standards of care we expect.”

The case examining Ms Galloway’s conduct between June 2009 and December 2009 will be heard by Nursing and Midwifery Council at North Bridge, Edinburgh, from February 20 to 22.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council does not comment on cases pending a decision.