A hospice nurse who bet colleagues that a sick patient would die on Christmas Day and refused a traveller family's request to see their loved one while claiming they would 'burn the body in a caravan' has been struck off.

Naomi Butcher, 60, from Burgess Hill, West Sussex, also made a string of serious errors which saw her put a patient at risk of death by administering ten times the amount of medication they were supposed to receive.

She then falsely recorded she had given the correct dosage, meaning an opportunity to intervene and prevent harm to the patient was missed. 

Ms Butcher has now been struck off from the nursing register after a Fitness to Practise Committee Hearing found she had committed misconduct and her fitness to practise is impaired.

The former care home manager committed the misconduct while employed by St Peter and St James Hospice, in Lewes, East Sussex, which cares for people with life-limiting illnesses.

During one incident in December 2023, Ms Butcher referred to a patient at the hospice and said words to the effect of: 'I make a bet with all of you that he will die on Christmas Day.'

Three months later, she refused permission for a family to come and visit their loved one at the hospital who had just passed away.

She told colleagues the family 'would stay for hours because they are gypsies' and that '20 of them' were likely to turn up if permission was given.

She added that members of the Traveller community 'burn their bodies in caravans when they die'.

The tribunal panel stated her comments were discriminatory, as well as 'unacceptable, degrading and unprofessional', and her refusal to allow the family to visit would have caused them 'emotional and psychological distress'.

'The panel therefore found Mrs Butcher's actions to be an extremely serious breach of fundamental standards of professional conduct and behaviour that a registered nurse is expected to maintain and that they would be seen as deplorable by other members of the profession,' they added.

Ms Butcher also made a series of serious errors during her time at the hospice, including giving one patient ten times the dose of a drug they were prescribed.

She administered 50mg of Midazolam - a type of benzodiazepine three times more potent than diazepam - over 24 hours instead of 5mg, and then falsely recorded that she had given the correct dosage.

The committee heard that this placed the male patient 'at risk of death', and took place on the same day as the incident involving the Traveller family.

The day before, Ms Butcher had administered the wrong drug to another patient, giving them oxycodone instead of morphine sulphate.

On other occasions, she failed to administer medication to patients when she should have done, gave them the wrong dose or failed to complete checks on them.

One patient was left in pain after they were not given their full dose of oxycodone.

Ms Butcher also failed to check in a box of morphine sulphate tablets to the drug control cupboard at the hospice.

She admitted all the allegations against her except her words regarding Traveller families 'burning bodies in caravans'. She acknowledged she had made the other comments about the family.

But the allegation was found proven after the nurse did not turn up to the hearing to dispute it, and on the evidence of another employee who witnessed the comment.

The tribunal heard evidence from Kelly Viner, who said: 'Until the incident on 12 March 2024, I have never come across a situation where a family was turned down from seeing their loved one. On this day, Naomi and I and 2 others were at our desks in the nurses' office, writing up patient notes.

'Then Naomi said she had just got a call from Patient X's (then deceased) family saying they wanted to come and see Patient X again but she said no to them coming to the Hospice [...] She also said they normally burn their bodies in caravans when they die.'

It was heard that Ms Viner reported the incident by email the next day. 

A second employee added they were told by a member of staff that 'Naomi was talking about how the family were gypsies and so they would burn the patient in a caravan'.

The Hospice emailed Ms Butcher on March 19, 2024, while she was on holiday in Tunisia, to inform her she would be spoken to about the medication errors upon her return to work.

But she handed in her resignation six days later and went on sick leave, meaning no one at the hospice was ever able to do so.

St Peter and St James Hospice referred Ms Butcher's conduct to the Nursing and Midwifery Council on April 4 of that year. 

In the strike-off ruling published this week, the committee noted that Ms Butcher has shown 'limited insight' into her conduct and 'has failed to demonstrate an understanding of the impact of her actions on patients, colleagues and members of the public'.

They added she has 'not taken any steps to address the concerns raised in relation to her clinical practice'.

As of eight weeks ago, Ms Butcher was still working in the care sector, picking up shifts at the assisted living facility Arthur Bliss House - but the hearing was told she has not been involved in any frontline care since leaving the hospice.

According to her social media accounts, she is currently employed teaching nursing at University College London.

Ms Butcher, who told the Daily Mail she is now disabled, said: 'I requested twice to self-removal from the register.

'They refused because they wanted to strike me off. I should never have gone back to acute nursing and family issues meant mistakes happened.'

She did not address the comments she is found to have made about either patient. 

Ms Butcher will be struck off after the end of a 28-day appeal period.