A Beckenham nurse left a 79-year-old dementia sufferer to choke to death on a ham sandwich, a tribunal heard.

Alexis Cummings allegedly failed to supervise the resident eating his meal during her night shift at Bromley Park Nursing Home, Bromley Road.

She did not try to resuscitate him or put him in the recovery position during the emergency in the lounge and instead ordered staff to take him to bed, it is claimed.

The elderly man turned “blue” and died in his bedroom that evening, on May 7, 2012.

The mental health nurse made the errors despite clear instructions in the resident's care plan that he must be supervised while eating, the tribunal heard.

Witness Carina Pallant, the home’s quality assurance manager, said Cummings should have checked his care plans before giving him his meal.

Ms Pallant said: “When she saw him three to four minutes after giving him his sandwich and observed he was unresponsive, she began to clear food debris from his lap and went to phone for help.

“She should have checked that his airway was clear from food and laid him on his side in the recovery position.”

Cummings, who had emergency first aid at work training and was in charge of the home's staff, allegedly told two care assistants to put the man to bed and made a “muddled” 999 call.

Ms Pallant told the tribunal she would have expected Cummings to use the recovery position and clear the airway as she was the qualified nurse on shift and the other staff carers.

She added: “She initially asked for the police instead of an ambulance, the call was muddled, because she was asked where she was and gave the address, then asked for just an ambulance.

“The operator asked her why is he not breathing, and she is heard calling out to staff in the background: ‘Get him out, get him out, get him out of there’.

“In answer to the operator's questions, she said he wasn't bleeding, but was not conscious and was going blue.”

Cummings tried to get a suction machine before attempting to get food out of the resident's mouth, the hearing was told.

The tribunal heard Cummings believed she felt the man’s pulse and that he was beginning to come round and talking.

She told the carers to change him into his pyjamas and laid him on his back in bed.

After the 999 call, she waited at the front door for the ambulance and on-call GP but should not have left the resident following the incident, Ms Pallant told the hearing.

She said: “She delegated tasks that were ultimately all her responsibility. He was asphyxiating and I would have expected her to attempt resuscitation.”

Cummings, who is present and representing herself at the Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing in Aldwych, London resigned saying she suffered nightmares and flashbacks following the incident.

If Cummings' fitness to practise is found to be impaired, she could be struck off.

The hearing continues.