A FORMER manager at a care home in Almondsbury who forced a resident to eat Marmite sandwiches has been struck off.

Paula Ralph worked for 18 years, until January last year, at the Crantock Drive care home, which looks after adults with learning difficulties.

In April, a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel found that Mrs Ralph abused her position of trust and displayed abusive and intimidating behaviour towards colleagues and vulnerable service users.

The NMC has now struck off Mrs Ralph and she will not be able to apply to practise again for at least five years.

The panel found Mrs Ralph guilty of 38 counts of misconduct while manager at the home.

She was found to have pushed one resident out of a minibus by the neck and on another occasion climbed onto her bed and pushed her elbows into her back.

She was also found to have said “I could knife you and you wouldn’t be bothered” or words to that effect to the same woman.

Ralph forced another resident to eat Marmite sandwiches, mustard and pizza against her will, the NMC found.

A spokesman for Milestones Trust, which runs the home, said: “We understand that whistleblowing is not an easy thing to do. We have a robust policy called ‘Do the Right Thing’ and are dependent on staff reporting poor practice. We always act on information given and fully encourage and support staff through this process. We were therefore very concerned by the series of allegations that came to light but we acted promptly to investigate these fully and took appropriate action."