A hospice nurse has been struck off after making a cruel bet that a patient would die on Christmas Day. Naomi Butcher, 60, shocked colleagues with her callous behaviour while working at St Peter and St James Hospice in Lewes, East Sussex.
Shocking Bet and Racist Comments
Butcher reportedly told colleagues: “I make a bet with all of you that he will die on Christmas Day.” She also denied a Traveller family’s request to view their deceased relative, branding them “gypsies” who would “stay for hours” and “burn their bodies in caravans.” Though Butcher denied making the offensive comment about the Traveller community, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found the claim proven after she failed to attend the hearing to contest a colleague’s evidence.
Dangerous Medication Errors
Butcher’s misconduct didn’t stop there. She administered 10 times the correct dose of Midazolam, a potent sedative used for anxiety relief. She then falsified patient records to cover up the mistake. The panel highlighted multiple other medication errors that risked patient lives. Such blunders are “extremely serious breaches” of nursing standards, the NMC ruled, branding her behaviour “deplorable.”
Struck Off for Gross Misconduct
The NMC Fitness to Practice Committee found Butcher unfit to practise and removed her from the nursing register. The hospice where she worked promises “compassionate care” for terminally ill patients – a promise Butcher shamefully broke. This is nursing malpractice at its worst: betting on death, denying dignity, and dangerously overdosing patients. Nursing is meant to be about care and compassion, but in Butcher’s case, those values were nowhere in sight.
