- Monday, June 05, 2023
Katrina Mclaughlin of Croydon Health Services NHS Trust was suspended for 18 months.
By: Pramod Thomas
An NHS nurse in Croydon who called colleague ‘the black one’ to be struck off from service for misconduct and racist behaviour, according to a report.
Katrina Mclaughlin, who was a registered nurse with Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, was suspended with the intention of being struck off after the Nursing and Midwifery Council found many examples of misconduct, reported My London.
The report said that she referred to a colleague as ‘the Black one’ more than once and walked away from her when she tried to speak.
While working at the trust’s single point of assessment office in Croydon, Mclaughlin also reportedly said that the colleague ‘should learn to speak English’.
In a written statement, the victim alleged that the nurse never called everyone else by their names except the victim.
“Katrina used to call me ‘the Black one’, she never called me by my name, only ‘the Black one’, but she called everyone else by their names,” the victim wrote.
“Ever since Katerina started at the trust I could feel that she didn’t like me, and I knew it was because of my colour. With everyone else she was OK,” the victim said.
“Whenever anyone else tried to talk to her she would be fine, but when I did she wouldn’t have it. She wouldn’t listen, would get angry, dismiss me or simply walk away. When me and her were working together she would just walk out, I wouldn’t see her for hours.”
Mclaughlin, however, denied the accusations of racism and said she never muttered that the victim should learn to speak English.
“This is an absolute lie. I find it so offensive and disgusting to read this because I know she is lying and can prove it…Firstly word ‘Black’ to describe someone of darker skin tone is not a phrase I would use,” Mclaughlin was quoted as saying during the hearing by My London.
“I would call a person of different ethnicity by their name. If I did not know their name but knew their ethnicity I would say the French lady or the Nigerian lady for example…However according to the Home Office and that is very close to the Spoa (single point of access) office incidentally, it is politically correct to describe someone as black or white.”
Mclaughlin said that she like to call people by their names, adding that she knew the victim’s name.
“If it were true that I had called [her] ‘the Black one all the time’ this would have sounded odd and someone in the office would have commented on it surely and told the manager…”
The nurse faced a list of other claims including aggressive behaviour and and stamping her foot when questioned about the inappropriateness of wearing headphones in the office.
The other allegations considered during the hearing include Mclaughlin not returning to work following her lunch break on January 21, 2019 and on January 31, 2019, arriving at work two hours and 45 minutes late.
Following the hearing, the panel decided to make a striking-off order so she cannot work as a nurse in the UK.
The panel imposed an interim suspension order for 18 months to appeal. If no appeal is made, then the interim suspension order will be replaced by the substantive striking off order 28 days after Mclaughlin is sent the decision in writing.
She resigned from the trust on 26 March 2019.
