A NORTH East nurse has been suspended after he hit a dementia patient who had wet the bed.

David Andrew Sowerby, who was employed by Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust ,was working nightshift on January 7, 2018, at Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital.

The hospital treats patients requiring emergency care.

At the time, a dementia suffer – known as Patient A – was being treated for acute kidney injury and dehydration.

A misconduct hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) heard that when he rolled Patient A towards him after the patient had wet the bed, the man hit him on the hand.

Witnesses said Sowerby hit the patient back on his arm.

The nurse then tried to move Patient A up the bed, to get him into the correct position.

At that point, Patient A hit him again but the nurse held him

by his two hands, and used them to hit the patient on the head.

Fellow staff working on the ward said this happened on one or more occasions, and the nurse shouted “oi” each time he used the patient’s hands to hit him on the head.

Patient A was later holding tightly on to the side of the bed rails, which were up.

Sowerby forcibly removed Patient A’s hands from the bedrails.

One worker was distressed by what he had seen, and immediately left the ward to report the incident.

In a statement Sowerby said Patient A was violent, and that he used minimal restraint which he deemed necessary, to be able to provide safe care.

During an investigation a body map was produced showing visible markings on the patient’s body.

The map was produced describing various cuts and bruises.

Sowerby denied the charges but accepted during the incident, he had hold of Patient A’s hands, but this was not forceful or in the way alleged by the NMC.

The nurse said he was performing a “hands up” restraint technique, and on reflection, said this was an inappropriate restraint.

The charges however, were proved and Sowerby was suspended for one month for misconduct without a review.

The panel said that Sowerby’s actions fell significantly short of the standards expected of a registered nurse, and that his actions breached the Nursing Code of Practice.

  • Northumbria Healthcare suspended Andrew Sowerby the day of the incident, which was immediately reported to police and safeguarding colleagues. He was subsequently dismissed from the trust in 2018 following a disciplinary investigation and the incident was referred to the NMC.

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