Julie Clare New was employed by John Masefield House care home in Burcot and Wemyss Lodge in Swindon between 2019 and 2022 and was found to have repeatedly acted unprofessionally and inappropriately at both homes.
A total of seven charges against her were found proved at a misconduct hearing conducted by the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
These included failing to follow controlled drug policies, erasing and altering controlled drug records, forging signatures on medication records, intentionally covering up errors, and failing to attend to distressed patients under her care.
Mrs New was employed by John Masefield House by Valorum Care Group from May 2019, and due to a history of medication errors, already had a supervision plan relating to patients on PEG feeds, or gastrointestinal feeding tubes.
Due to an error with a controlled drug, she was subject to an internal disciplinary hearing at the care home, found guilty of gross misconduct and dismissed in July 2020.
An appeal was not upheld, and although her employment at John Masefield was later restored, she submitted her notice and did not return.
The latest misconduct hearing, which was conducted on August 26 and 27, found that while employed at the care home Mrs New had committed forgery and administered controlled drugs without a witness, and was found guilty of dishonesty relating to these charges.
The panel found that “she knew what she was doing was wrong” and at the care home’s disciplinary proceeding in August 2020, Mrs New said: “I was trying to protect the home… I thought that one cover-up would not hurt.”
The adult care nurse then went to work at Wemys’s Lodge in Swindon, where there were similar concerns as at her previous employment.
It was found proved that between March 2021 and March 2022 she administered a medication to a patient who was no longer prescribed it for three days, ordered a “double dose” of medication for a patient, used the wrong patient’ name in a care plan, and did not record incidents in patients notes.
Stay connected to the heart of Swindon with our flash sale.
Swindon Advertiser keeps you updated for less: only £3 for 3 months or save 40% on an annual subscription.
Don’t miss out on what’s happening locally!
👉https://t.co/ayrpkI4RBy#DigitalDeal #LocalJournalism pic.twitter.com/xEnFfuXwtN
— Swindon Advertiser (@swindonadver) September 2, 2025
Of the latter, one of the incidents included a patient urinating in another’s room while looking for the toilet, and another getting out of bed and wearing underwear on their head.
These two incidents are also related to a separate charge, that Mrs New failed to monitor and attend to distressed patients under her care on multiple occasions.
A third incident relating to the charge involved a patient being taken back to their room by a new, unfamiliar carer, who was “calling out to Mrs New for help”.
Although Mrs New was nearby, she did not help and failed to call out the doctor for the patient, even though a colleague said: “The resident was visibly upset, crying and very agitated.”
The panel found this particular incident a “deplorable dereliction of nursing duties” to “vulnerable persons who were dependent” on her.
Mrs New did not attend the misconduct hearing or engage with proceedings.
The nursing council’s case presenter Jayesh Jotangia said Mrs New’s dishonesty is “a serious breach of trust and is difficult to remediate” and the pattern of misconduct over a prolonged period and two separate employers suggests “deep-seated attitudinal issues”.
Mrs New was suspended from practicing as a nurse for a period of nine months, with an interim suspension order also preventing her from practicing during the 28-day appeal period.
At the end of the nine-month suspension, a second Nursing and Midwifery Council panel will reconsider the order.
John Masefield House was placed in ‘special measures’ in the summer of 2023 after being rated as ‘inadequate’.
Inspectors found that practice at the care home ‘placed people at risk of harm’.