A ZIMBABWEAN nurse who reported allegations of abuse at a UK care home investigated by the BBC claims she was victimised for speaking out.

Caroline Kadungure, 36, wrote to managers at Winterbourne View in Bristol warning them of the ill-treatment of vulnerable patients a year before a documentary was broadcast on Panorama.

She claims patients, who suffered from a range of disorders including dementia and schizophrenia, were shouted at and taunted by staff. She also alleges patients who refused to co-operate were pushed to the floor.

But instead of addressing her concerns the nurse was disciplined for failing to join in the physical restraint of vulnerable patients, she claims.

Winterbourne View, which had 24 patients, was closed down last month after the BBC documentary, broadcast in May, exposed the scale of the abuse taking place at the 24-bed care home.

Health care experts said if Castlebeck, the owners of the care home, had acted on Kadungure’s complaints they could have spared the patients months of abuse.

Kadungure said that in one case in June last year an elderly female patient was so badly injured while being restrained in her room that she needed stitches to the back of her head.

“I heard screaming, shouting and banging from a room upstairs where two care workers were looking after a patient who suffered from dementia. I remember thinking I should ring for the charge nurse and separate the care workers as they seemed to be making it worse,” she said.

But Kadungure says her intervention did not stop the mistreatment and she was threatened with the sack. Rather than face dismissal, she left the care home in November.

Cathy James, chief executive of Public Concern at Work, said: ‘If Castlebeck had listened to Caroline vulnerable patients may not have suffered.’

Last month patients at Winterbourne View were transferred after the Panorama undercover investigation showed residents being pinned down, slapped and taunted. A number of  people have been questioned by police and released on bail.

Last week staff at a second Castlebeck care home for adults with learning disabilities were suspended. Allegations of abuse at Rose Villa, also in Bristol, are being investigated by the Care Quality Commission.

A spokeswoman for Castlebeck said the company, which employs 2,100 people, providing care for 580 service users at 56 locations, would not comment on the new allegations while investigations were still taking place.