Nurse exposed by undercover BBC reporter struck off

A senior nurse recorded saying that an autistic patient needed "a good thrashing" has been struck off.

Emma Doherty was a Band 6 deputy ward manager at the Edenfield Centre - part of Prestwich Hospital - which was designed to care for patients with severe psychiatric illnesses who had been detained for their own safety.

In September 2022 the BBC aired Panorama: Undercover Hospitals: Patients at Risk which included covert filming from inside the unit, run by Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) NHS Foundation Trust.

At the time the film was broadcast GMMH said it had taken "immediate action" to protect patients as soon as it was made aware.

The Edenfield Centre was temporarily closed after Panorama's film and has since been re-branded the Riverside Centre.

In the footage, Doherty was heard saying the vulnerable woman should be sent to prison.

She was also recorded suggesting that the patient would "soon be brought down a peg or two".

Doherty admitted a raft of misconduct charges after she was referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which regulates the list of nurses able to practise in the UK.

She had already been sacked by the trust in October 2022.

In a written ruling, an independent disciplinary panel said Doherty had shown "remorse" and was "profoundly sorry" for the impact of her comments on service users and their families.

In her evidence, she said conditions on the ward were partly to blame.

"We were understaffed with a lack of support and resources to allow us to express our emotions," she said.

"Staffing levels and burn-out were discussed with management and operational management, which appeared to fall on deaf ears, as nothing seemed to be done about it.

"Staff became accepting of the low staffing levels and stopped raising it due to it being a regular occurrence… The culture on the ward was one where staff worked to get by.

"Morale was low and people were burnt out and frustrated."

The panel said she had failed to demonstrate sufficient insight into how she had allowed herself to be drawn into a "toxic culture" on the medium secure unit, and why she had failed to challenge it.

It said: "The panel considered that your use of terminology and language is completely unacceptable."

Referring to the "thrashing" comment, it added: "In your evidence, when asked what you meant by this comment you said 'hit'.

"The panel considered that Service User A was a vulnerable patient undergoing treatment for her mental health, and your suggestion that violence should be used as a means to deal with her needs is not compassionate or kind and is completely unjustifiable.

"The panel considered that as a senior nurse, saying this comment in front of junior colleagues could encourage them to act upon your words to cause actual harm to patients."

The ruling means she cannot work in a nursing role in the UK in future.

The Panorama documentary exposed staff using restraint inappropriately and patients enduring long periods of isolation in small, bare rooms.

Alan Haslam, who spent three months undercover on the unit, recorded staff swearing at patients while some were seen slapping or pinching them on occasion.

A Greater Manchester Police investigation was opened based on Panorama's findings, which led to a nurse and a care worker being charged with multiple counts of ill-treating or wilfully neglecting an individual while a care worker.

The trust has been approached for comment.

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