NURSE STRUCK OFF OVER £750,000 THEFT FROM ELDERLY WOMAN

Rebecca Burwood, who worked as deputy manager at Bryn Yr Haul Care Home in Mold, Flintshire, has been removed from the nursing register after a tribunal found she took more than £750,000 from a 99-year-old woman in her care. The tribunal found that Burwood, who registered as an adult nursing specialist in 2002, manipulated the woman, referred to as Resident A, into total reliance on her, including by calling her "nana", before using that trust to control her finances. The tribunal found the misconduct included withdrawing £160,000 from cash machines and taking tens of thousands of pounds that funded a house extension, a car and a campervan. Resident A was also coerced into transferring her £400,000 home into Burwood's name, the tribunal found. Reports of the case state some of the money was spent on cosmetic surgery. The conduct took place between 2017 and 2023.

Burwood began exploiting Resident A in 2017, after a fall left her isolated, the tribunal heard. She took Resident A to a solicitor to transfer the £400,000 property into her name before arranging her move into the care home in 2018. On 5 May 2018, Burwood and a friend, referred to as Person B, met Resident A's solicitor and were granted Lasting Power of Attorney over her affairs, which Burwood did not disclose to the care home, the tribunal found. Burwood's legal representative, Victoria Rees, told the tribunal that Resident A had given Burwood her bank cards and asked her to withdraw between £250 and £500 a week for donations to charities supporting blind people or those with heart conditions. Rees said Resident A had told Burwood she did not want money left when she died because she did not want the government to have it. Burwood kept no records of the sums withdrawn or donated on Resident A's behalf, the tribunal heard.

The tribunal concluded that Burwood's actions amounted to misconduct and ruled that she be struck off the nursing register, meaning she can no longer practise as a registered nurse. Its findings centred on the undisclosed Lasting Power of Attorney, the unrecorded cash withdrawals and the transfer of Resident A's home into Burwood's name. The tribunal treated the case as one involving a nurse who held a position of trust over a vulnerable resident over several years. No further legal proceedings are referenced in the tribunal's findings as reported.