A CARE home worker has gone on trial accused of ill-treating an elderly dementia sufferer.

Philippa Hodgson, 21, is alleged to have been involved in two separate incidents involving frail Nora Hall at Workington’s Rosecroft Residential Home.

Hodgson denies two allegations of ill treating a person lacking in capacity during January 2015.

Jurors at Carlisle Crown Court heard that complaints about the alleged ill treatment of Mrs Hall – who has since passed away – were made by whistleblower Lyndsey Jones.

Miss Jones, a care assistant at that time, claims to have been present when both of the incidents allegedly occurred.

Both involved Mrs Hall, who at the time was aged in her late 80s and suffered from severe dementia.

Giving evidence, Miss Jones said she believed Mrs Hall was receiving “end-of-life” care at the time. Mrs Hall was “very frail”, “fully dependant” on a wheelchair and could be “challenging”.

As a result, two carers were needed to gently move a woman who she agreed was often “very vocal”.

On the first occasion, Miss Jones said she and Hodgson, of John Street, Maryport, were transferring Mrs Hall from her wheelchair to bed.

The resident was moved to an initial standing position.

But Miss Jones told the court: “As we were to lower her in bed, Pippa (sic) just let go of her from a standing position.

“It has caused her (Mrs Hall) to sort of bounce on the bed so her legs lifted up.

“I was very new to caring. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t like it. It made me uncomfortable.”

Miss Jones alleged that Hodgson then suddenly lifted up the bed sidebars, causing one of the resident’s feet to become stuck.

Some weeks later, Miss Jones said, she and Hodgson were again simultaneously lifting Mrs Hall – this time from her bed into a wheelchair.

Again she was brought to a standing position. “This is when Pippa had let go,” Miss Jones told the court.

“She swung towards me as I still had hold of her. She banged her hip on the side of the wheelchair and fell into the wheelchair. She was upset. She was crying.”

Miss Jones admitted she did not feel comfortable enough to report the first alleged incident.

But after the second, she said: “At this time I knew things were going to go further, that I was going to report this in some way.

“The second time really confirmed it for me that it wasn’t just a one-off.”

A jury heard Hodgson was briefly suspended from her post. However, she was reinstated following an internal investigation.

Jurors were also told Hodgson was both “loved” and “well liked” by residents at the Westfield Drive home.

The trial continues.