UK: Nurse sacked after patient she was having secret relationship with dies during late-night car park meet
By Admin
A nurse was sacked after the patient, whom she was having a secret affair with, died during a late-night car park meeting with her.
Penelope Williams did not call the ambulance after the patient collapsed in the vehicle at Wrexham’s Spire Hospital in January 2022.
As per BBC reports, the man, named Patient A, was found unresponsive in the car with his pants down.
He reportedly died due to heart failure and chronic kidney disease triggered by a medical episode.
Williams was struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) for bringing disgrace to the noble profession.
A hearing was told Patient A was found at the back of his car at the hospital after he and Williams met in the parking area.
The panel heard that Williams, who was married and worked as a general nurse on a renal unit, met the patient a year ago.
He was suffering from multiple health issues and was being treated in the same unit where the nurse worked.
Williams did not call ambulance
The night when the incident took place, Williams had visited her colleague’s home before meeting with Patient A.
According to BBC, just before midnight, her co-worker received a call from her asking for help.
The panel heard she was “crying and distressed and asking for help”.
She was then advised by her co-worker to call an ambulance after she informed them of the man’s death, which she did not.
Shortly after the call, when her colleague arrived at the car parking spot, the ambulance was called on finding the man half-naked and unresponsive.
He was pronounced dead by the doctors after being taken to the hospital.
Initially, Williams informed the police that she went to the car parking area of the hospital after receiving a call from the patient saying that he was unwell. However, the very next day, she admitted to the police of having a sexual relationship with the man.
In the month of February, she denied this to officials from the health board.
She claimed that the two sat in the back seat of the car for about 30-45 minutes just talking before the man “began groaning and suddenly died”.
Then later at a disciplinary hearing in the month of May, Williams admitted to having a secret relationship and also not calling the ambulance when the patient died.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council panel deemed her act of not admitting the relationship as “putting her own interests ahead of the wellbeing of Patient A”.
They then found this equivalent to serious misconduct and also found her unfit to practice nursing.
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Striking her off from the nursing register, the panel concluded there were no mitigating features.
“Mrs Williams’ actions were significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse, and are fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register,” it said, as per BBC.
“The panel was of the view that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that Mrs Williams’ actions were so serious that to allow her to continue practicing would undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body as a registered nurse, and are fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register,” it said, as per BBC.
