Ward manager humiliated staff, nurse says

Deborah Povall is facing allegations over how she treated staff and the care received by patients at an NHS hospital

A nurse has described how she felt "humiliated" by a "nit-picking" hospital ward manager, who is also accused of putting patients' safety at risk.

Elinor Jones said Deborah Povall's behaviour had "got worse over time" and that the way feedback was delivered had "got quite personal" on occasions.

Ms Povall is currently facing a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing into allegations over how she treated staff and the care received by patients on Powys Ward at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt (RJAH) Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen, Shropshire.

She admitted working excessive hours but denied all of the other allegations relating to incidents between 2017 and 2019.

"If there was an issue that I had done something wrong or not properly, it would be addressed in front of other staff members," Mrs Jones said.

"It felt quite humiliating. It was never done sensitively away from other people."

She said she felt it was her who would get "the brunt of it", but that at other times Ms Povall could be really supportive.

"It would make me feel like I couldn't ask questions and I would have to go to other staff to get those answers," Mrs Jones added.

The panel was told that when the ward had 28 patients during a night shift, there would be two registered nurses to look after them, or three if it went above that number.

Mrs Jones said on one shift there were 29 patients but only two nurses, and that Ms Povall had accepted the extra patient.

She added that she did not feel this was safe, but that the issue was not reported due to fears of repercussions.

'Extremely anxious'

On another occasion, the ward was caring for a patient whose condition deteriorated, Mrs Jones said, and they eventually needed to be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit.

Mrs Jones said she had wondered why the patient was still on their ward due to the severity of their illness, but was given the impression Ms Povall thought they could handle the situation.

The panel also heard from Sarah Bloomfield, a former chief nurse at RJAH who said she was made aware of allegations against Ms Povall and arranged to meet affected staff members at a local pub.

Ms Bloomfield said: "One member of staff came slightly later because they had been talking to Deborah while the others left.

"And when the member of staff arrived, she was extremely anxious and felt she had been followed in her car and was shaking.

"They were worried that if Deborah had found out, there would be repercussions for them."

Mrs Bloomfield said staff were concerned that the ward was operating on a much higher level of acute dependency than other wards, which increased the risk to patient safety.

She also felt that Powys Ward had an "outdated" style of working in that it had a "rigid, task-based" model, rather than prioritising patients based on their needs.

The hearing continues.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations.