A former nurse of Stephen Hawking has been suspended amid allegations of “serious misconduct” relating to his care.

Patricia Dowdy is being investigated after a complaint was lodged by the late scientist’s family, reports suggest.

But the exact nature of the accusations remains unknown because the Nursing and Midwifery Council has taken the highly unusual step of banning the public and media from attending its hearing into them.

The hearing will decide if the nurse, from Ipswich, is fit to continue practising.

Ms Dowdy, 61, helped look after Professor Hawking for 15 years, although it is now understood she was suspended in 2016, two years before his death last March, aged 76.

Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Show all 23 1 /23 Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking at his Oxford graduation SWNS Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures The physicist at Cambridge University in 1988 Getty Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking navigates the narrow streets between his residence and university Alamy Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking as a young man Alamy Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Stephen Hawking and Nobel Prize winner Dorothy Hodgkin with their portraits unveiled at the National Portrait Gallery in London, 1992 PA Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Stephen Hawking and his new bride Elaine Mason pose for pictures after the blessing of their wedding in 1995 Reuters Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking arriving at the Chilean Antarctic base in 1997 Alamy Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Bill Gates, accompanied by vice-chancellor Alec Broers, meets Hawking on a visit to Cambridge University in 1997 Reuters Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Stephen Hawking celebrates his 60th birthday in 2002 at Cambridge University Brian Harris Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking holds a lecture for a symposium of cosmologists at Stockholm University in 2003 AP Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures The physicist floats in a weightless environment during a flight aboard a modified Boeing 727 in 2007 EPA Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Stephen Hawking addresses a public meeting in Cape Town, 2008. Hawking was in South Africa for a short visit, accompanied by Nobel laureates David Gross and George Smoot Reuters Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Nelson Mandela Hawking in Johannesburg, 2008 AFP/Getty Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Barack Obama presents the Medal of Freedom to Hawking during a ceremony at the White House, 2009 Getty Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures The physicist enjoys the sun at the Stephen Hawking Garden for Motor Neurone Disease at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2010 Susannah Ireland Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking speaks via satellite during the Science Channel portion of the 2010 Television Critics Association Press Tour Getty Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking speaks during a press conference in London, 2014. Intel demonstrated with the professor a new communications platform to replace his decades-old system EPA Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Actors Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne pose with Hawking at the UK premiere of the ‘The Theory of Everything’ in 2014 AFP/Getty Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking and Felicity Jones present the award for Special Visual Effects at the Baftas in 2015 Rex Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking takes part in a ‘Little Britain’ sketch for Red Nose Day 2015, with Catherine Tate and David Walliams Rex Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Pope Francis meets with Hawking at the Vatican in 2016 AFP/Getty Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Hawking receives his Freedom of the City of London scroll in 2017 AP Stephen Hawking: a life in pictures Participants listen to a recorded speech by Hawking on artificial intelligence at the Global Mobile Internet Conference in Beijing, 2017 AFP/Getty

She told the Mail on Sunday she could not talk about the hearing, which started last month and is due to last six weeks.

She said: “This is all very upsetting. Can I just say ‘no comment’ at the moment? I’m not supposed to talk to anyone.”

In a statement, the NMC said: “Hearings will usually take place in public. In some cases there are reasons why this doesn’t happen due to health.”

Professor Hawking, who was one of the world's great scientists, was diagnosed with a rare form of motor neurone disease at the age of 22 and was given just a few years to live.

The father-of-three, who lived in Cambridge, defied that prediction but was eventually confined to a wheelchair and became dependent on round-the-clock care.

In 2004, 10 of his nurses accused his second wife, Elaine Mason, of abuse after his family repeatedly took him to hospital with unexplained injuries including a broken wrist and gashed face.

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