Woman who left carer in tears at B&M is ICU nurse and 'would do it again'

A woman accused of being an ‘aggressive’ shopper when she reprimanded a care worker for wearing her uniform to the shops has been identified as an ICU nurse.

Kimberley Simpson, from Burton-upon-Trent in Staffordshire, was left in tears after being accused of ‘spreading germs’ at a B&M store. She claimed she was followed for 10 minutes by the woman who was ‘shouting’ that she shouldn’t be allowed inside.

It has now been revealed the woman – who prompted outrage after Kimberly posted a video of the incident online – is a nurse who works on the coronavirus frontline and has said she would do the same thing again, MailOnline reports.

Marina Kendrick, 53, told friends that she had been enforcing the ‘nursing code’ and could not believe the backlash against her. She has had to report death and rape threats to the police after the incident at B&M Bargains in Burton-upon-Trent, friends said.

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One told the Mail: ‘She fully stands by what she did and she would do it again. People can call her whatever they like but she regards it as being part of her nursing code – to protect her patients and uphold her profession. That is what she signed up to do.’

In a video of the incident, Kimberley tells Marina: ‘You’re absolutely ridiculous. You should not have come up to me aggressively like that.’

When she denies being aggressive, Kimberley continues: ‘Yes you did. Saying that I am spreading germs when I am not spreading germs.

‘How do you know that not all of my clients do not have anything? They are regular clients. I’m not allowed to buy essential items?’

Marina tells Kimberley the problem is not specifically linked to the coronavirus crisis, but just in general.

She responds: ‘So I’m not allowed to go in anywhere before corona?’

The woman replies ‘no, you’re not’, before threatening to have a conversation with the care worker’s manager.

Marina, who was head of nursing at a vocational training company before retraining as an intensive care nurse, was queuing for the till when she told carer Kimberley she should not be wearing her uniform in public.

She is said to be ‘traumatised’ by what happened and the hate she has received online.

‘There have even been people calling for her to be refused NHS treatment. The ignorance is stupefying,’ another friend said.

‘She made the point because she is an educator and a nurse and even before Covid the guidance for all uniform wearing nursing staff was to cover up their uniform in public.

‘There are two reasons for this – infection control and to protect the nurse themselves for if somebody had a heart attack in a shop, others would see the uniform and might expect them to do things which were beyond their level of competence.

They added: ‘Marina is so dedicated to nursing that she put her own family at risk by going back into clinical practice after 15 years of teaching nursing so she could join the fight on the frontline.

‘She is one of the heroes we all clap every Thursday and now the mob have reduced her to living in fear.’

According to NHS England there is ‘no evidence that wearing uniforms outside work adds to infection risks’.

Guidance tells health and social workers not to wear uniforms outside of clinical settings because ‘even though there is no evidence of infection risk, people perceive there is one’.

What is the uniform guidance for health and social care workers?

NHS England guidance states that ‘there is no evidence that wearing uniforms outside work adds to infection risks’ but ‘public attitudes indicate it is good practice for staff to change at work or cover their uniforms as they travel to and from work.’

It lists going shopping or engaging in activities outside of work while in uniform under ‘poor practice’ because ‘even though there is no evidence of infection risk, people perceive there is one’.

Source: NHS England

According to the Royal College of Nursing‘s uniform and workwear guidance location-based workers (eg in a hospital, hospice, GP, surgery or clinic) must travel to work in their own clothes and change into their uniform on site.

At the end of their shift they must change back out of their uniform before going home.

The guidance states: ‘Public perception is that wearing uniforms in the community may pose an infection control risk; this risk is extremely low provided uniforms are laundered correctly and PPE is worn when caring for higher risk individuals.

‘Shopping or non-work activities should be avoided whilst in uniform/workwear in the community. If this is unavoidable due to shopping restrictions in the pandemic, cover the uniform as much as possible with a coat.’

Source: RCN

Taking to Facebook after the incident, Kimberley said she was ‘disgusted’, adding: ‘We have worked so hard, no clients have Covid-19 so we are clearly doing something right.’

She said: ‘I know I’m an ugly crier, but this lady has just followed me around B&M shouting at me saying I’m not allowed in the shop because I’m in uniform.’

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