Nurse suspended over affair with Rampton patient

A NURSE who was caught having an affair with a dangerous patient at a maximum security hospital after she posted pictures of the couple on Facebook has been suspended for 12 months.

Jane Steele began the relationship when she was working at Rampton – the Nottinghamshire hospital where some of Britain's most violent criminals, including cannibal Peter Bryan, have been treated.

Steele also wrote inappropriate messages on the social networking site referring to her boss as a "numpty" and making an obscene comment about a former patient.

She claimed nothing happened while he was detained at Rampton but says she is now going to marry the prisoner, currently serving a life sentence.

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The Nursing and Midwifery Council decided that her behaviour amounted to misconduct and that she was not fit to work as a nurse without restrictions,

Panel chairman Martyn Griffiths said: "The panel has found that you initiated and engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Patient A, who was a vulnerable patient, while you were employed at Rampton Hospital.

"The panel considers that your decision to engage in this relationship displays a significant lack of understanding of professional boundaries.

"Whilst the panel acknowledges that an enduring relationship has developed, the panel is not satisfied that you have sufficient insight into this plainly inappropriate conduct as a matter of principle."

The relationship between Steele and the patient took place from December 2002 to September 2010.

He was detained for treatment at Rampton Hospital, near Retford, between December 5, 2002 and September 1, 2006. He was later sent to HMP Gartree in Leicestershire to complete his sentence.

The relationship came to light when comments on Steele's Facebook page were first seen in September 2010.

Other comments were offensive to colleagues.

The nurse also spoke inappropriately to a former patient on the phone at Bassetlaw General Hospital in Worksop.

The nurse was suspended by Notts Healthcare NHS Trust in September 2010 and resigned the following month.

Steele, who did not attend the central London hearing, was suspended from working as a nurse for 12 months and an 18-month interim suspension order was granted to cover any appeal period.