How 'nasty, evil' health workers conspired to drug patients

Aileen Scott, who was unlawfully sedated by a senior nurse, is now frightened to go into hospital, her son says

In 2018, a small group of nurses and healthcare assistants in Blackpool Victoria Hospital's stroke unit were sending phone messages back and forth about stealing hospital drugs to either take themselves, or use on patients.

The messages were peppered with laughing emojis and expletives, often mocking the vulnerable people who relied on them and joking about giving patients who annoyed them medication.

One of them read: "I sedated one of them to within an inch of her life lol.

"Bet she's flat for a week haha xxx."

That message was sent by senior nurse Catherine Hudson.

She later wrote to healthcare assistant Charlotte Wilmot: "I'm going to kill bed 5 xxx"

Wilmot replied: "Pmsl well tonight sedate him to high heaven lol xxx"

Hudson said: "Already in my head to give him double !! Xxx"

It was into this world that 71-year-old Aileen Scott was brought when she had a stroke while on holiday in Blackpool in October 2018.

Her son, Brian, said:"At that point there was a real chance she might not survive. You feel like your whole world's crashing in on you."

Although doctors managed to save her life, she was still very ill and had a Do Not Actively Resuscitate order (DNAR) in place, meaning that the medical team caring for her would not attempt to restart her heart or breathing.

While Aileen was conscious, Brian noticed that his mother, who is from Glasgow, was often difficult to wake.

"At times she wouldn't even acknowledge that I was there or any other visitors that had come in," he said

"There were times when I would phone and she was still sound asleep at lunchtime."

Brian also noticed that she was often very emotional.

'Tethered to bed'

The court would later hear that this was a well-known side effect of a powerful sleeping tablet, Zopiclone.

Ten days after Aileen's admission into the stroke unit, a student nurse got into a conversation with Hudson, a senior nurse, during a night shift.

She asked her how Aileen had been over the past few nights and the student nurse said she had been very restless.

The court heard Hudson had told the student nurse to give Zopiclone to Aileen.

Catherine Hudson and Charlotte Wilmot conspired to drug a patient for an "easy life", the trial heard

When the student nurse said she could not do this because it had not been prescribed, she said Hudson told her: "Well, she's got a DNAR in place, so she wouldn't be opened up if she died or if it came to any harm."

The student nurse also thought she saw Hudson put a pot on the table with something which looked like a Zopiclone tablet in it.

She raised her concerns with senior managers, who called in Lancashire Police.

Brian vividly remembers the day the police rang him to tell him.

They came to the Glasgow hospital, where his mum had been transferred, and took swabs and medical records away for examination.

"I couldn't actually believe what was happening," he said. "It was really, really difficult. You think, 'How's this happening? She was in hospital.'"

On 19 November 2018, the force revealed that "a healthcare professional" on the unit had been arrested and in the six months that followed there were further arrests as part of the major investigation.

Police found incriminating messages on the arrested health workers' phones, and Hudson was one of five charged with a variety of drug offences.

Blackpool-based investigative journalist David Graham said people in the resort were stunned when they realised the scope of the inquiry.

"They were genuinely shocked," he said. "People you talked to, the conversation would go, 'Oh, I had a relative in there, when was he in? When was she in?'"

David Boyle, pictured at Lytham carnival, was a patient in the unit in 2017

Mr Graham had met Hudson several times before because while visiting a close relative on the stroke unit.

"She ruled the roost in that unit," he said. "One got the impression that the stroke unit was Catherine Hudson's unit".

In late 2017, Julie Whitfield's partner, David Boyle, who ran the Dr Who Experience museum and was "well-known" in Blackpool, had a stroke and was taken to the unit.

"He was a very colourful character, very flamboyant, very outgoing," Julie said.

By the time he entered the unit, his prospects were bleak and he was not expected to survive.

He was unable to walk or talk and was being fed through a tube.

David's experience did not form part of the criminal investigation or the eventual court case but his time in the stroke unit left a strong impression on Julie

Julie said that a previous stay at the hospital's cardiac unit was "excellent" but conditions were very different in the stroke unit.

"You could cut the atmosphere with a knife sometimes," she said. "I just felt I was walking on eggshells with some of the staff. You asked questions, and you felt you were a nuisance.

"I'd ask how David was doing and the staff would maybe pull a face if they felt David had been particularly troublesome."

Investigating officers seized unprescribed drugs during the course of the major inquiry

Julie remembers her partner's right hand had been put into a safety mitten.

The large padded gloves are sometimes used to prevent confused patients from pulling out their feeding tube, but only if there is no alternative.

During one visit, she said she had arrived to find the mitten had been velcroed to the bars "almost like a prisoner tethered to the bed".

She said she was "gobsmacked" to see this.

Another night, Julie said she walked into the ward to see his bedside locker unlocked and full of his medication, including Zopiclone.

"I remember texting a friend later that night to say, 'Gosh, they're lax'."

The subsequent trial revealed just how lax.

Blackpool Victoria's pharmacy was described in court as a "free for all".

Between September and October 2018 alone more than 1,100 Zopiclone tablets were dispensed, despite only 207 having been recorded as prescribed.

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Julie said she was told that David needed Zopiclone but later discovered that the powerful sedative was not recommended in its powdered form for such patients since it can thicken liquids and block their feeding tube.

David was eventually discharged into a nursing home where he lived for the next two years.

Julie was contacted by police who took away David's medical notes but they did not pursue a criminal investigation into his care.

Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said it could not comment on Julie's experience, as it was not made aware of it at the time.

It encouraged patients and families to raise any concerns to the hospital.

Investigative journalist David Graham says people in Blackpool were shocked by the scope of the inquiry

The evidence which emerged during Hudson and Willmot's trial painted a picture of dysfunction.

At one point Hudson told the court that 95% of the unit's staff had been stealing drugs for their own use.

"Some staff would even take it while on duty," she said. "They were drinking the liquid morphine before their shift started."

Hudson also claimed that Zopiclone was being taken by people who took Class A drugs on a recreational basis.

She and Wilmot tried to explain away the incriminating expletive-filled messages as poorly judged humour to relieve tension in a busy, often understaffed unit.

During their trial, though, it was revealed that some of Hudson's conversations in her home had been covertly recorded.

She told a relative: "It's almost like a hidden little inside rule you know - that we all have that we stick together.

"Whatever you do - it's just taken to the grave. We say that all the time. Take that to the grave. And this stupid [expletive] student has spoiled that for all."

Brian Scott, pictured with his mum Aileen, says his family will be haunted forever by what happened

On 5 October, Hudson was found guilty of drugging Aileen Scott and another patient. Wilmot was convicted of encouraging her and conspiring to sedate another patient.

Brian Scott gave a powerful victim impact statement in court during sentencing. Looking straight at Hudson he called her actions "wicked and pure evil"

I met Brian on the morning he was preparing to appear in court.

He said: "[They are] nasty, evil, self-centred, don't care about anybody but themselves.

"Words don't describe….they're just awful, awful people. And these were vulnerable people that they were doing this to."

He told me he had been determined to talk to them directly.

"I want them to hear the damage they've done to my mum, to our family, and to the nursing profession," he said.

'Deeply upsetting'

Brian showed me pictures of his mum before her stroke - an immaculately dressed, lively, determined woman, who he describes as "a role model"

"We had a great time growing up, many laughs, full of fun, but always expected us to do well. We couldn't have asked for a better mum," he said

Aileen is now living with Brian, who cares for her.

He said she was now frightened of going into hospital and was suspicious when medicines were given to her.

Chief Executive of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Trish Armstrong-Child, said the case had been "shocking and deeply upsetting".

"I am sorry that people suffered from the actions of Hudson and Wilmot and I want to provide assurance that the Trust employs thousands of colleagues who are caring and compassionate in their work, each and every day," she said.

Ms Armstrong-Child commended the bravery of the student nurse and noted the trust "quickly shared those concerns" with Lancashire Police, and she urged colleagues to "speak up" if there were any concerns.

Brian said despite her ordeal his mum was still as determined as ever.

"She loves life and values every minute of it," he said.

"Life is precious."

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