A NURSE who guzzled almost a full bottle of gin at work and was found with a head injury has been struck off.

Caroline O’Donnell was working with vulnerable pensioners at Davaar Sheltered Housing Complex in East Kilbride at the time of the incident.

An inquiry found that the sheltered housing officer drank almost three quarters of a bottle of gin, in her office after finishing her shift.

She later pulled an emergency cord which alerted a control centre and said she had been attacked by a man. 

She then said she was “fine” and had been involved in a “domestic” incident with an elderly resident.

Police and council staff found her bleeding from a head injury and confused and later discovered a bottle of gin, three quarters of which had been drunk.

She was taken home by police after giving conflicting explanations for the incident on February 27, 2014.

Mrs O’Donnell was sacked by South Lanarkshire Council for gross misconduct after a hearing in April 2014.

The case was later referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council where an inquiry found she had consumed alcohol at work and had failed to respond to requests for medical tests on six occasions.

The panel concluded that although Mrs O Donnell had not been working as a nurse at the time of the incident, she had “failed to maintain the standards expected of her by her profession.”

She was suspended from the register for six months and later struck off at a review meeting.

It found: “The panel was satisfied that Mrs O’Donnell’s persistent and repeated lack of engagement indicated a deep-seated attitudinal problem.

“This together with the nature of the nature of the misconduct found is so serious that is now fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register.”