Caerphilly nurse struck off after abusing ICU patient

A nurse from Caerphilly has been struck off the register after abusing, intimidating and humiliating a vulnerable patient in his care at an intensive care unit in Merthyr Tydfil.

Andrew Jonathan Davies was found guilty of serious misconduct by a Nursing and Midwifery Council fitness to practise committee following incidents that took place whilst he was working as an agency nurse at Prince Charles Hospital’s ICU.

The allegations centred on his treatment of a male patient between 5 May 2021 and 27 June 2021, during which Davies subjected the vulnerable individual to both physical and psychological abuse.

The hearing was told that on one occasion, Patient A was outside with Davies, another nurse, his wife and daughter. When the patient wore sunglasses, Davies allegedly told him: “You look like a right p**** in the sunglasses.”

On another occasion, when Patient A attempted to communicate through eye movement or nodding his head, Davies responded by saying: “Don’t f****** roll your eyes at me.”

In a witness statement, Patient A described particularly distressing treatment during his care. He said: “Mr Davies would squeeze my penis, pull back my foreskin and look at me and pull a face which indicated to me that he knew what he was doing to me was painful and say ‘Oooh it’s got to be done.'”

The panel concluded that Patient A was put at risk and suffered both physical and emotional harm as a result of Davies’s misconduct. They noted their findings that the patient had been “intimidated, humiliated, caused fear and caused physical and psychological pain.”

In reaching their decision, the panel stated: “The panel therefore considered that your misconduct had also breached the fundamental tenets of the nursing profession, to treat people with kindness, deliver safe and effective care and to safeguard vulnerable patients, and therefore brought its reputation into disrepute.”

A striking-off order was imposed, with an interim order deemed necessary for 18 months to protect the public during any potential appeal period by Davies.