A FORMER night manager at an Abergavenny nursing home who swore at and physically abused dementia residents has been struck off the nursing register.

Howard Griffiths, 55, "grossly abused his position of trust" at the Rozelle Nursing Home in Abergavenny over a number of years, a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) hearing concluded.

A three-day NMC conduct and competence committee sitting in Cardiff was told that Griffiths, of Wordsworth Close, Ebbw Vale, who did not appear, abused patients between early 2007 and August 2009 and found that Griffiths' actions amounted to misconduct and impaired his fitness to practise.

The charges related to a number of allegations of physical and verbal abuse.

The report of the hearing concluded that Griffiths had 'entirely failed to respect the dignity of the vulnerable service users in his care' and 'fallen well short of the standards expected of a nurse'

It suggested that he had 'deep seated attitudinal problems' which were not 'easily remediable' and that this represented a risk of repetition. The panel also noted that he had shown no remorse

It concluded that his actions were "significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse, and were 'fundamentally incompatible' with him remaining on the register.

"Nothing short of striking off would be sufficient in this case. Mr Griffiths' actions caused harm to patients over a number of years. He grossly abused his position of trust," it said.

The panel, felt that a striking off order was necessary to, 'protect patients, maintain public confidence in the profession and the regulatory process, and to send to the public and the profession a clear message about the standard of behaviour expected of a registered nurse.'

In July 2010 Griffiths was convicted by Cardiff Crown Court of two counts of ill treating a person without capacity, contrary to section 44 of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, for which he was sentenced to a 12-month community order and 50 hours unpaid work in the community. He was cleared of eight identical charges.

A spokesman for Rozelle Nursing Home told the Chronicle, "We are relieved that justice has been done. This was an immensely difficult period for all at Rozelle. Under new ownership major changes have taken place and Rozelle continues to develop and implement best practice".