Suspended nurse frogmarched elderly patient across hospital ward

Jacqueline Johnson was found to have either dragged or pulled the woman from one bay to another in August 2014 by a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) disciplinary panel.

Johnson was sacked by the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust in January last year following an internal investigation, with the trust referring the case to the NMC.

The panel found that Johnson, who worked as a staff nurse on the Lowton Ward Medical Assessment Unit at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary in Wigan, had said to the elderly woman 'I am not having this, your behaviour is behavioural', or words to that effect.

After hearing witness evidence, the panel concluded that the force and language used by Johnson caused considerable harm to the patient, who was said to be in a confused state at the time.

Johnson, who had been working as a nurse for 34 years, did not attend the hearing but consistently denied the allegations.

A report published following the hearing states: “All of the witnesses were shocked by Mrs Johnson’s treatment of patient A.

"As Mrs Johnson had been asked to get involved in removing patient A by other staff, the panel concluded that there must have been some reason to remove her from the immediate area.

“However the panel considered that, to drag or pull patient A all of the way back to bay one – some considerable distance, according to the witnesses – would not be appropriate under any circumstances.”

The panel concluded that Johnson was guilty of misconduct and that her fitness to practice as a nurse was impaired.

Her long career and the fact it was an isolated incident was taken into account in giving her the six-month suspension.

The report said: “Having considered all the circumstances, the panel concluded that a suspension order for a period of six months would appropriately address the public interest in this case, and mark the seriousness of Mrs Johnson’s failings.”