Psychiatric nurse William Prior loses license for sex with patient

June 22, 2012

William Prior "groomed" Patient A with cuddles then had sex with her when he should have been at work, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard.

Mr Prior, a mental health nurse for 20 years, faced two misconduct charges. Both were found proved on Thursday.

He did not attend the hearing and was not represented, the NMC said.

Mr Prior worked for the Milton Keynes Community Health Services as an out-of-hours mental health practitioner.
'Miss you'
Continue reading the main story   
“Start Quote

    The consequences of Mr Prior's actions led to a relapse in her mental state, damaged her self esteem and has left her not trusting healthcare professionals”

Nursing and Midwifery Council

The four-day hearing in London was told the woman had bipolar affective disorder, a history of child abuse and suicidal thoughts.

Mr Prior visited her at home and told her to keep it a secret as he would get in trouble, the NMC was told.

He phoned her on numerous occasions and sent her four text messages, some of which said "can't wait to see you" and "miss you".

Patient A gave evidence via a video link and said that on the second and final time they had consensual sex, Mr Prior did not visit for long because he received phone calls from a patient and a colleague.

The NMC was told that when challenged by his employers, he had denied having sex with the woman and said he had never been unfaithful.
'Took advantage'

The panel said it found it "unbelievable" Mr Prior did not report he had found the woman "unkempt" in nightwear and smelling strongly of alcohol when he visited her to "put a close to things".

The panel concluded: "Patient A told the panel that the consequences of Mr Prior's actions led to a relapse in her mental state, damaged her self esteem and has left her not trusting healthcare professionals, which has adversely affected her future mental health.

"Mr Prior abused Patient A's trust and took advantage of her in her own home.

"He did not collaborate with the other healthcare professionals who were responsible for her care, he did not assess the risk she was in and failed to provide a high standard of care."

The NMC imposed a striking-off order.

Source: "Milton Keynes patient sex mental health nurse struck off," BBC News, 1 June 2012.