A NURSE has been suspended from the profession for assaulting a patient in the A&E department at Warrington Hospital.

Ross Forbes has been suspended from nursing for three months after he used ‘excessive and unnecessary’ restraint and tests on a patient during a night shift in the hospital’s A&E department.

On the evening of Saturday March 7 2015, Forbes was on duty as the charge nurse in A&E on a night described as ‘very busy’ with only one bed remaining.

Around midnight a patient who had collapsed due to intoxication was admitted to A&E by ambulance.

The patient was unresponsive and Forbes performed pinch and supra-orbital pressure tests in order to rouse him – the patient responded to the test and became vocal and abusive.

Forbes, who has worked as an A&E nurse for 12 years, perceived a threat to himself and placed the patient in a restraint and removed him from the department, causing bruising to the patient’s neck.

He admitted a charge of assault at Halton Magistrates Court on October 2, telling the court that it was his first night shift in four months having recently returned from paternity leave and that he felt ‘tired and stressed’.

The court also heard that he was ‘feeling pressure due to A&E targets’ and had also become disillusioned at not being allowed to move departments.

Forbes was fined £270 for the incident, which was described as ‘totally out of character’.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing last week, which Forbes did not attend, found that his fitness to practice was impaired.

He was suspended from the profession for three months in addition to an interim suspension order of 18 months – Forbes has also been dismissed from Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing said: “Mr Forbes accepted that the number of tests he performed to rouse the patient and the force he used were excessive and unnecessary.

“Mr Forbes also accepted this his action in restraining the patients and removing him from the department were excessive and unnecessary and in excess of lawful self-defence.

“He said it was a very busy night and there was only one bed left on the ward – he admitted that he was stressed and tired and stated that the security guards were not around to assist at the time.

“Mr Forbes said that he had increasingly been feeling pressure due to the A&E targets and directives and that his work had become less hands on and more computer driven – Mr Forbes also stated that he had been under personal stress at the time and that he had been very tired.

“He said that he had become disillusioned and aggrieved at being refused a secondment out of the department having been told he could not be released due to his efficiency and the low staffing levels.

“This was a single, isolated incident in Mr Forbes’ career – he has been greatly affected by the case and is extremely remorseful for his actions.”

A spokesman for Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust said: “This employee was immediately suspended following the alleged assault on one of our patients whilst we conducted our own internal investigation and he was subsequently dismissed.

“We were aware of the police investigation and that he was subsequently found guilty at court – the matter was reported to the Nursing and Midwifery Council and we note that the council has now imposed a suspension at last week’s hearing.”