A CARE home manager has left her job after the Chronicle confronted her when it emerged she was sacked from another home and struck off by the NHS.
An interim manager is now running the 158-room Admirals Reach care home for people with care needs, including dementia, after Kulvinder Sidhu left the Chelmsford institution after just three months in charge.
Bupa, which runs the home on Ridgewell Avenue, stood by its decision to appoint the ex-nurse to the position in March, saying it was "aware of the issue".
Sidhu was described by the Nursing and Midwifery Council as having "deep-seated attitudinal problems", "multiple acts of dishonesty" and "persistently abusing her position of trust as a manager" as it struck her off the nursing register.
In 2010, she was a general services manager for the East London NHS Foundation Trust, in charge of 100 members of staff, responsible for the running of two GP practices, phlebotomy and urgent care services.
In August that year, massive discrepancies were found in her monthly salary during a routine check.
On 58 time sheets over an 18-month period when Sidhu claimed for stand-by and on-call duties, the forms were signed off by a junior member of staff, including 17 occasions when that person was actually off work sick by using a photocopied form.
On three further occasions, Sidhu submitted duplicate forms for stand-by and on-call periods, which saw her paid six times for three shifts.
In total, she claimed 268.5 hours – equivalent to 33.5 eight-hour shifts – more than the next highest claiming manager, despite only being down to do 17 more shifts than him.
Sidhu also doctored her mileage claims. After discovering she had put in for more than 250 miles a month on a regular basis, these claims were also examined.
The Local Counter Fraud Services found she had claimed four times on weekends and bank holidays she had not worked, even submitting expenses for 54 miles while on sick leave.
On "more than one occasion", Sidhu had claimed double the nine-mile distance for a return journey between the centre she worked at and a warehouse, claiming it was due to road works, congestion and diversions.
She was sacked in October 2010 for her actions and a subsequent appeal failed. Sidhu was removed from the nursing register last November after she admitted "multiple acts of dishonestly" to the NMC.
The panel "took into account the fact that Mrs Sidhu did not admit to dishonesty straight away, and that she has attempted to justify and rationalise her conduct. The panel could find no evidence of insight, remorse or remediation." It added: "The dishonest nature of the actions is fundamentally incompatible with continuing to be a registered nurse."
In December 2012, Sidhu became home manager at Tower Bridge Care Centre in London.
But she was sacked in January 2014, with home owners HC-One refusing to go into further details.
A Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection in May 2013 found the home, which also cared for those with dementia, was lacking in the management of medicines and supporting workers.
A section of the next inspection in May this year read: "Since the new manager had been in post, staff commented that the leadership they were lacking was now in place."
When the Chronicle asked Sidhu about her employment history, she said it was "an issue for the press office".
A Bupa spokeswoman said Sidhu had informed it of the issues during the recruitment process and they "have been providing all the appropriate support for someone in this position", a non-nursing role.
But on Monday, June 30, Bupa contacted the Chronicle to say: "After discussions, Kulvinder Sidhu is no longer the home manager. While we recruit a replacement, an experienced interim manager is running the home. We cannot comment any more as this concerns an individual."
