A NURSE accused of failing to get help as a terminally ill patient fell into a critical state said yesterday he had seemed comfortable.

Gillian Simpson, 40, did not get assistance when the 68-year-old man began passing low levels of urine after an operation on a broken arm.

The patient at Northallerton's Friarage Hospital suffered renal failure from a large fluid overload as his condition worsened over a six-hour period.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council has heard Ms Simpson is not held responsible for his death but she is accused of failing in her duty to the critically ill man.

The nurse told the hearing she maintained regular checks on Patient A during the night as she gave him IV fluids.

At midnight he was "settled and wanted to go to sleep. He was comfortable," said the mother-of-two.

Soon afterwards she heard him making groaning noises and went to investigate.

"He assured me that was normal for him and he often made noises in his sleep.

"His condition was satisfactory and he was stable."

Ms Simpson admitted she failed to record Patient A's vital signs on his chart at the time she checked them.

The hearing was told she had scrawled a few basic notes on a piece of paper and kept them in her pocket.

Ms Simpson admits taking a Tylex painkiller from the hospital for her own use because she had run out of the prescription drug.

Ms Simpson, from Northallerton, denies failing to call for assistance for Patient A but admits failing to record post-operative observations. She has also admitted falsely claiming she had completed a course at work and misappropriating drugs for her own use.

The hearing continues.