A FORMER senior lecturer in nursing at Newcastle University was yesterday found guilty of misconduct over his treatment of a patient.

Phillip Brown, 48, appeared before a disciplinary hearing at the Nursing and Midwifery Council, in London, to face an allegation of misconduct over his administration of the drug, diazepam, to a patient at Balmoral Court Nursing and Residential Care Home, in Newcastle.

The council's professional conduct committee was told that between 1993 and 1999, Brown had been a lecturer at the University of Northumbria. He returned to "hands on nursing" when he was forced to give up teaching and accept a post at the care home as a senior night nurse.

The committee heard that in May 2001 an elderly female patient had an epileptic fit and Mr Brown had administered another patient's diazepam without first calling in a doctor. He said his actions had an immediate positive effect on the woman.

Mr Brown told the hearing: "I deeply regret it now. I was not trying to play a hero and step into the shoes of a doctor, or anything of the sort."

The committee found him guilty of misconduct, but decided not to strike him off, instead giving Brown a caution about his future practice.

The nurse had earlier been cleared of three charges of misconduct relating to his work as a charge nurse at a South Shields care centre in 2000.