Guernsey District Nurse Struck Off For Wholly Inappropriate Behaviour

Main Category: Nursing / Midwifery
Also Included In: Medical Malpractice / Litigation
Article Date: 06 Oct 2008 - 11:00 PDT

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A nurse has been struck off the nursing and midwifery register following a professional hearing at the London offices of the Nursing and Midway Council (NMC) from 1-3 October 2008.

Daniel Aspinall, a 55 year old adult nurse from Derbyshire was employed by the States of Guernsey Health and Social Services Departments as a community district nurses between 10 January 2005 and 11 February 2007 during which time he was reported to have a made a series of remarks that were unprofessional, inappropriate and/or sexually motivated.

On making the decision to strike Mr Aspinall off the register, the independent panel of the NMC's Conduct and Competence Committee heard evidence which supported each of the 13 charges including saying to a resident of Oberlands House residential home, "trust you to be stroking the pussy", asking a fellow healthcare professional at the Mignot Centre "have you had a shag lately?" and on two occasions during a home visit to a patient with motor neurone disease telling them that they'd be dead in a year.

Other charges included asking a colleague at the St Martin's Community Centre if she was wearing a new bra, slapping a patient on the bottom, rubbing his crotch in front of a patient and kissing a patient's mother on the cheek.

Commenting on the panel's decision, NMC spokesperson Leila Harris-Ryberg said: "Daniel Aspinall's conduct was disgraceful and not acceptable from anyone who is in a respected and caring profession such as nursing. Nurses have a Code of Conduct which they are expected to follow as it relates to all aspects of their practice. Mr Aspinall was in breech of this Code and by doing so his behaviour fell far short of the standards that the public has a right to expect of a nurse. For the panel to do anything less than strike him off the register would undermine the public's confidence in the NMC and in the nursing profession."

The Nursing & Midwifery Council (NMC) is the UK regulator for two professions, nursing and midwifery. To be eligible to work as a nurse or midwife in the UK, they must be registered with the NMC. There are currently more than 657,000 nurses and midwives on the register. The primary purpose of the NMC is to safeguard the health and wellbeing of the public. It does this through maintaining a register of all nurses and midwives to practise within the UK and by setting standards for their education, training and conduct.

Nursing & Midwifery Council