Nurse took £770k from vulnerable 99-year-old and splashed cash on home improvements and campervan

Nurse took £770k from vulnerable 99-year-old and splashed cash on home improvements and campervan A nurse looking after a 99-year-old woman, who had no family, transferred ownership of the pensioner's house to herself and took hundreds of thousands of pounds A nurse who took £770,000 from a "vulnerable and lonely" 99-year-old woman and spent the cash on vehicles and home improvements has been struck off. Rebecca Burwood exploited the elderly woman between 2017 and 2023 while working as deputy manager at a care home, a tribunal found. A Nursing and Midwifery Council fitness to practise committee heard Ms Burwood, while working at Bryn Yr Haul Care Home in Mold, north Wales, used "manipulation and coercion to acquire funds" from the woman. It was alleged Burwood used some of the money on personal cosmetic surgery while evidence showed some of the cash was spent on "house improvements, utility bills and council tax". Burwood abused her position and became the elderly woman's lasting power of attorney for property and financial affairs, on May 5 2018, while overseeing her care at the same time. The nurse allegedly did this without telling anyone else at the care home. The 99-year-old, who did not have any family, also transferred ownership of her house, valued at £400,000, prior to Burwood entering Bryn Yr Haul Care Home in 2018. Evidence showed more than £370,000 left the woman’s bank account over five years, including £160,000 in large cash withdrawals from ATMs. Burwood persuaded the pensioner to pay £20,000 for a car and £9,000 for a campervan, claiming the vehicles would allow them to go on days out together. The pensioner was "vulnerable and lonely" following a fall and relied on Burwood for friendship and social contact, the panel heard. The committee found the nurse used "emotional blackmail" by telling the elderly woman she would not be able to take her for days out if she did not have access to her money, adding she was "withdrawing large sums of money almost daily" from her bank account. The pensioner's bank account was subsequently frozen over concerns about spending, but Burwood tried to have the restrictions lifted and took her to a bank branch. Staff at the bank described Burwood as "almost blackmailing" the woman and said she had told the pensioner to ask for the accounts to be unlocked. This bank referred the situation to North Wales Police, which launched an investigation. The force then took no further action as the woman, who has since died, did not want to make a complaint. The committee heard the woman regarded Burwood as a friend and believed the nurse had "learned from her mistakes". The pensioner however had told safeguarding staff she was shocked and disappointed by the amount that had been spent from her account. In written statements to the panel, Burwood said: "I now recognise that, even where a gift is offered voluntarily or with good intentions, as was the case here for me, accepting anything beyond a trivial token can compromise, or appear to compromise, professional judgment. "(The elderly woman) was not only someone I later encountered in a professional context, but someone I had known for many years and came to see as a dear friend and grandmother-type figure. I had no understanding of the scope of an LPA and now recognise that this was a major failing on my part." In its ruling, the nursing panel said Burwood's actions were "deplorable and a disgrace to the profession". The committee said although the nurse said the 99-year-old had approved gifting off her assets, this was undermined by evidence demonstrating she was "shocked and disappointed at the amount of money being spent". It added that it was "improbable" the woman would have "knowingly and willingly given away her home and substantial sums of money leaving her with only a modest amount of cash and the risk of not being able to fund her own care".