A nurse and a healthcare worker have been found guilty of unlawfully drugging patients – amid allegations they did so for their own amusement and an easy life.

Catherine Hudson, 54, and Charlotte Wilmot, 48, ill-treated those in their care on a stroke unit at Blackpool Victoria Hospital in Lancashire between February 2017 and November 2018, Preston Crown Court heard.

Hudson was found guilty of ill-treating two patients. Both women were found guilty of conspiracy to ill-treat a patient by administering sedatives.

They faced a total of nine counts concerning five patients, with Hudson found not guilty of three counts.

Wilmot was also found guilty of encouraging Hudson to sedate a patient, while Hudson was found guilty of theft of the drug Mebeverine – used to treat irritable bowel syndrome.

A police investigation was launched after a student nurse on a work placement told authorities she saw Hudson give unprescribed Zopiclone, a sleeping pill said to be potentially life-threatening if given inappropriately, to a patient in November 2018.

The student nurse also said Hudson commented: “Well she’s got a DNAR (do not attempt resuscitation) in place so she wouldn’t be opened up if she died or like if it came to any harm.”

Prosecutors said messages exchanged between Hudson, an experienced Band 5 registered nurse, and Wilmot, a Band 4 assistant practitioner, revealed a “culture of abuse”.

Both women will be sentenced at a later date. Hudson was remanded into custody while Wilmot is set to be granted bail.

The verdicts were reached after nearly 14 hours of deliberation.

Brian Scott, the son of one of the patients Hudson was found guilty of ill-treating, said some of the women’s actions were “absolute pure evil”.

“My mum had a haemorrhagic stroke and was paralysed. She was no nuisance to nurses in that hospital. She couldn’t do anything and she relied on them for their care and support,” he said.

“It’s been a long five years. I know some families didn’t see the outcome they were hoping for today and my thoughts are with all of them. However, justice has been done and I hope this is a message to the NHS that substandard treatment of patients is unacceptable. And to all the nurses who do a fantastic job, I do applaud you and I thank you.

“My mum’s still not well at this time, but she’s delighted to hear that justice has been done – it’s a great outcome.

“These nurses have left my mum fearful of going into hospital and it’s had a major impact on her..”

Mr Scott said “nothing could ever prepare you” for hearing the text messages sent between the nurses.

“Hearing how they have spoken about patients who are people and it’s not in jest, it’s absolute pure evil and each and every one of them involved in this will hopefully hang their heads in shame – that they’ll reflect on the impact that they’ve had on vulnerable people who needed their care the most.”

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Jill Johnston, detective chief inspector at Lancashire Police, thanked the student nurse who reported Hudson and Wilmot to authorities, saying that she was “so brave in coming forward and supporting this lengthy investigation”.

“Both of them were experienced healthcare professionals. Both of them knew the risks. The risks of giving non-prescribed and inappropriate sedatives to elderly and poorly patients who had suffered a stroke.

“They knew the risks but they simply didn’t care. Catherine Hudson said if any of the patients come to any harm, not to worry, because there’ll be no post-mortem, no investigation and in essence nobody would ever know. She and others joked about taking these secrets with them to the grave.”

Prosecutor Peter Wright told the jury the healthcare workers treated patients with “contempt” rather than “care and compassion”.

“They considered them, or some of them, to be an imposition, an irritation,” he said.

“Patients were ill-treated. They were sedated either for the amusement of these defendants or simply to keep them quiet and to make their life easier, and their work less onerous or arduous.

“The risks to the patients were obvious, but we say they didn’t care.

“They thought it was amusing. It was something which they would brag about or share as a joke on social media and with other members of staff who shared their particular brand of humour.”

He said WhatsApp messages sent between the pair were uncovered after a probe was launched into alleged misconduct at the hospital.

In one exchange about an elderly male patient, Hudson wrote: “I’m going to kill bed 5 xxx.”

Wilmot replied: “Pmsl (p***ing myself laughing) well tonight sedate him to high heaven lol xxx.”

Hudson said: “Already in my head to give him double !!”

The next evening Hudson messaged Wilmot: “If bed 5 starts he will b getting sedated to hell pmsfl. I’ll get u the abx (anti-biotic) xxx”.

Jurors were told Hudson also bragged about sedating another female patient, who was profoundly brain damaged, to a healthcare assistant when she wrote: “I sedated on(e) of them to within an inch of her life lol. Bet she’s flat for a week haha xxx.”

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On the following day she asked Wilmot about the same patient, writing: “What’s bed 29 been doing today pmsfl. Not a f***ing lot I bet!! Seeing as I sedated her on sat and sun lol lol xxx.”

Wilmot replied: “Yeahhhh I knew it, everything you gave her has started working today!!!! made for a nice day though, it ain’t been bad lol. Xxx.”

Hudson responded: “She was driving me mad , so it was pxd (prescribed) and had to b done lol . She needed the rest xxx.”

Mother-of-three Hudson denied inappropriately giving any drugs and said the text conversations were “just banter” to relieve the stresses of the job.

She told jurors the unit was understaffed to a “completely dangerous level” for years and that medication was “scattered around” and freely available.

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Hudson said the “whole ward was corrupt” and that “95% of the staff” would take medication from the unit. Some would use them on duty and “regrettably” she eventually stole drugs, she said.

Wilmot, who was dismissed by her employers in 2020, said she had not been qualified to administer medications, had never given sleeping tablets to patients for an “easy life” or witnessed anyone else doing so.

The NHS trust the women worked for apologised to the patients, their families and other colleagues after the verdict.

Trish Armstrong-Child, chief executive of Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “It is very clear from the evidence heard by the jury that inappropriate and unacceptable conduct and practices were taking place at the time.

“It’s important now to reassure local people that Blackpool Teaching Hospitals has made significant improvements across a range of issues including staffing, managing medicine and creating a more respectful culture.”

The stroke unit is at the centre of a separate and ongoing investigation by Lancashire Constabulary into the suspected murder of patient Valerie Kneale.

Mrs Kneale, 75, from Blackpool, died on the unit on 16 November, 2018 – a week after the first arrest in the sedation investigation.

A post-mortem examination found she died from a haemorrhage caused by a non-medical related internal injury.

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