NURSE STRUCK OFF AFTER SEX WITH PATIENT
AMENTAL health nurse has been struck off after facing allegations he had sex with a “highly vulnerable” patient.
Alec James Wallbank has been suspended and struck off the nursing register after a panel found it proved that he had sex with a patient who was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Wallbank had appeared in court last year charged with having sex with the patient, which he denied, and was cleared of all charges after a judge directed jury to find him not guilty on two counts and prosecutors offered no evidence on the remaining four.
But a fitness to practice hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found the allegations proven.
Wallbank, who worked as a deputy ward manager for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, admitted contacting the woman on Facebook using a different name and admitted treating her after she was re-admitted to hospital following a suicide attempt the panel found “he knew his actions had contributed towards”.
He also admitted it was inappropriate. But he did not admit that it was sexually motivated or that he flirted, kissed and had sex with a patient after she was admitted to hospital in 2014.
The panel of three people found those allegations proved.
In a report produced after the hearing, panel members described Mr Wallbank’s behaviour as an “abuse of his position of trust” towards a “highly vulnerable” patient.
After meeting in hospital it was heard that Mr Wallbank had continued to speak to the patient on Facebook despite “indications” her mental health was deteriorating. The messages were described as “highly inappropriate, especially given the sexual context”.
Giving evidence, Patient A told the panel she had sex with Mr Wallbank in a hotel the evening after being discharged.
She said: “Alec messaged me on Facebook and we arranged to meet the next day. We met up and went for a walk but the atmosphere was more flirtatious and we were holding hands.
“That was the first time we kissed. I remembered saying something like, ‘I bet you never thought you would do that with a patient’ and he said ‘especially one under section’.”
A Facebook message to Mr Wallbank from Patient A read: “You knew the state I was in, in the hotel. And then when you knew I was back on the ward, you carried on kissing me and telling me that you were going to carry on seeing me. But didn’t.”
Despite “numerous opportunities”, Mr Wallbank failed to alert colleagues at the hospital to the situation and ignored the advice of one colleague not to escort the patient out of hospital.
The report said: “The panel considered that, through his misconduct, Mr Wallbank had caused direct and lasting emotional harm to Patient A.
“Further, Mr Wallbank’s misconduct had breached fundamental tenets of the nursing profession and had the potential to bring the reputation of the profession into disrepute.
“The panel was of the view that the findings in this case demonstrate that Mr Wallbank’s actions were so serious so as to allow him to continue practising would undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body.”
Mr Wallbank, represented by his father for part of the proceedings, did not attend the hearing. In a letter to the panel he apologised for “not observing professional boundaries”.
After an interim suspension of 18 months, Mr Wallbank will be subject to a striking off order if no appeal is made.
Mr Wallbank was found not guilty of six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a person with a mental disorder at Cardiff Crown Court in 2017.