A nurse who said she had to stop herself from “gouging a former colleague’s eyeballs out and shoving them down her throat” has been allowed to continue in her current role.
Deborah Povall was the ward manager in charge of Powys at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt (RJAH) Orthopaedic Hospital in Gobowen, Shropshire, at the time she sent the text message to another colleague on or around September to November 2018.
Ms Povall has also admitted to failing to preserve patient safety by working excessive hours between June 2018 and June 2019.
However, she has denied all the other charges she is facing as part of a Nursery and Midwifery Council (NMC) substantive hearing.
The NMC has now closed its case, with only Ms Povall and any witnesses she may call due to give evidence. However, because of various delays, that now won’t be heard until mid-December, with the final decision potentially not being made until the New Year.
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Following a formal investigation held by the RJAH in 2019, Ms Povall was suspended pending its outcome. However, the hearing heard on Thursday (August 28) that since leaving the hospital, Ms Povall has been working for a company that provides healthcare assessments for the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The panel decided not to impose an interim order, meaning that Ms Povall can continue working.
“My current role requires me to be a registered nurse, therefore any interim order potentially may mean that I cannot do that depending on what that was,” said Ms Povall.
“I do this over four days and compress my hours which allows me to have three days off. The reason I did that was mainly around the fact it gave me some more decompression time. One day is seven-and-a-half hours and others are technically 10, but I rarely need to work those hours.
“My role involves talking to individuals that are not acutely unwell, however they have healthcare conditions and my job is to ascertain them and the impact on their day-to-day function.
“I only work my current hours, I do not use social media now or text. My role is hybrid – some days I could be in a clinic, but that will be me and the person I am seeing. Sometimes we have a receptionist or security.
“Being able to still to work has helped me through that and focus on what I am doing. It’s a very different pressured role – there is an element of stress to it, but certainly nowhere near the pressure of running a 30-bed ward.”
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Alastair Kennedy, case presenter for the NMC, said it wouldn’t be appropriate for her to start her case and resume it in December. He confirmed there has been no order to date, and Ms Povall has been free to work since the start of the investigation.
“Two charges have been proved by way of admission – working excessive hours and sending an unfortunate text message,” said Mr Kennedy.
“Neither of these issues raise public protection concerns to the extent that an interim order will be required. There is unlikely to be a repetition of working excessive hours or the text issue.”
The final witness for the NMC was Kirsty Foskett, who at the time was the surgical matron of the five wards at RJAH.
The hearing heard she had a good working relationship with Ms Povall, but did speak to her about working too many hours.
“She felt a need to cover vacant shifts,” said Mrs Foskett.
“I tried to encourage her to use Bank or agency staff rather than committing to do overtime.”
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Mrs Foskett explained that Ms Povall would have the first level of approval for rotas, followed by herself. The ultimate responsibility though would lie in the hands of the chief nurse.
“I had been a previous ward manager and you are responsible for the quality and safety on your ward,” said Mrs Foskett.
“You are a constant person on that ward who can assess the needs of patients, but also the skill mix of the staff.”
Mrs Foskett added that there had been previous occasions when issues were escalated, but staff were able to primarily resolve them.
The hearing previously heard from witnesses who said that the required ratio of one nurse looking after eight patients during the day on Powys Ward had at times been exceeded. However, Mrs Foskett said she did not recall that, and there were no flags from the data.
Mrs Foskett told the hearing that a member of staff who was leaving the ward raised concerns about Ms Povall’s behaviour in November 2017.
However, further concerns were raised the following year, so Ms Povall was handed an informal warning and undertook a leadership development programme. But after a grievance was raised in 2019 – which Mrs Foskett said was similar in nature – a formal investigation was carried out.
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