Nurse struck off for relationship with patient

A mental health nurse has been struck off the register after getting into a romantic relationship with a vulnerable patient.

Natalie Croarkin's relationship with Patient A began in 2015.

Over a two-year period, she repeatedly accessed the patient's records without clinical need, and lied about the relationship during an internal investigation in 2022 by the Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust.

Following a two-day fitness to practice hearing, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) ruled she should be struck off the register and an 18-month interim suspension order was issued in the case of an appeal.

The relationship came to light when a different patient revealed it.

The Trust investigated it in 2022, before being referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Croarkin admitted to the regulator that she had stayed at the patient's grandfather's house, and arranged to meet the patient after they were discharged.

When the patient told her of developing "inappropriate feelings" for her, she responded "me too," she accepted.

And on multiple occasions throughout 2015 and 2016, she accessed the patient's medical records, which NMC said was "without clinical justification".

In its conclusion, the NMC panel said the combination of the "serious misconduct" , the abuse of professional trust and the involvement of a vulnerable patient raised "serious questions about Croarkin's professionalism".

It rendered her "continued registration fundamentally incompatible with the standards expected of a registered nurse", it added.

Oliver Soriano, chief nurse officer at Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Our staff hold positions of significant trust and responsibility.

He said they were "expected to uphold the highest professional standards" and that there were clear professional and therapeutic boundaries.

"Any breach of those standards, including the inappropriate access of patient records, is wholly unacceptable and represents a serious failure of that trust.

"Though this case is from many years ago before our current Trust was formed, we will reflect and learn from what happened," he added.

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