A nurse has been handed a three-year caution order by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after failing to call 999 or administering CPR to a care home resident, who was later declared dead.

Paul-Iulian Dicu was suspended following the incident at Hassingham House Care Centre in Hingham on May 31 last year.

On that day, a female resident who suffered from morbid obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hypothyroidism and stage 4 chronic kidney disease, had been checked at 6.20am and was assessed as sleeping in her bed.

But when Mr Dicu checked in on the woman at 7am, he found that her face was blue and she was apparently not breathing.

Rather than call 999 to alert paramedics or administer CPR, Mr Dicu called the care home manager, and then, on her advice, called the woman's next-of-kin and the NHS's 111 emergency line.

NHS 111 sent paramedics to the home, found the woman still warm and started CPR. But they failed to revive her and she was declared dead at 8.12am, but a more exact time of death was not mentioned in a report of the NMC's hearing.

A coroner later ruled the resident died of natural causes, and Mr Dicu was allowed to return to work at the home on July 4, 2016.

At the hearing on May 17, Mr Dicu admitted a charge of misconduct.

Ioana Balan, representing Mr Dicu, said he was 'petrified' at the time of the situation, and had since had first aid training and was aware of the correct procedures to preserve life.

The report said: 'The panel found that your actions did fall seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and amounted to misconduct.'

But the NMC said it considered that Mr Dicu had been working safely without restriction since the incident, and had shown 'a great deal of remorse' about what happened.

And the panel said Mr Dicu's fitness to practice was impaired on public interest grounds, and imposed a caution order for three years.

Nurse is 'highly thought of'

The centre manager told the panel Mr Dicu was 'highly thought of' at the home.

He had been working at the home since January 2015 and started as a nurse there in June that year.

A spokesman from the care home said: 'This sad death of a resident with very complex medical issues was not preventable but Mr Dicu fully accepts and deeply regrets that proper procedures were not followed.

'As a result, we immediately investigated the circumstances and took appropriate disciplinary action. With retraining, supervised practice and a robust action plan in place, Mr Dicu returned to work and continues to be a valued member of our team.

'The NMC committee acknowledges the steps taken, and recognises that there is a very low level of risk associated with his continued practice, particularly with these measures in place.

'We continue to carry out positive work at home level to learn from this, addressing any and all issues as part of our ongoing commitment to best practice.'