Nurse wrongly accused of affair ‘mourning loss of career’

A nurse who was falsely accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a mental health patient says she is in “mourning” for her lost career.

Jessica Thorpe, from Newcastle, was working as a nurse for the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust when she was suspended after a patient claimed she was pregnant with his child.

This week an employment tribunal ruled she was entitled to £23,500 compensation from the trust, which said it was disappointed with the constructive dismissal ruling.

“Nursing is not something that you get into for that pay cheque at all – it’s about your character and who you are as a person,” Miss Thorpe said.

“I feel like I’m mourning the loss of my career.”

Miss Thorpe joined the trust in 2016 and was carrying out a nursing apprenticeship with Sunderland University when the allegations surfaced in 2020.

In the five years which ended with the tribunal proceedings, the nurse fought to clear her name.

“I feel like the last five years have been incredibly claustrophobic.

“I’ve used things like social media to distract me from that and pretend that it’s not happening.

“But now that it’s all over, I feel like I can really breathe again and carry on with my life.”

After her suspension, the 31-year-old started an Instagram and YouTube profile which became so popular she made enough money from her posts to enable her to pay the bills after leaving nursing.

“Social media was a complete accident for me,” she said. “It never was meant to turn into what it has, it was never something that I thought: ‘I’m going to make money from this, I’m going to change my career’.

“It was a total distraction to me, it took me away from the reality of what was going on in my life.”

Miss Thorpe said she was the first to flag issues with the patient when he told her he believed she was pregnant and that the baby was his.

She reported it to the nurse in charge of the mental health unit where she worked and included what he had said in his patient’s notes.

But, a few weeks later, when he made the same allegation to another member of staff, Miss Thorpe was suspended pending an investigation.

“I honestly felt a bit sick – I couldn’t believe that it had actually escalated this far, considering I had already raised concerns,” she said.

“I don’t disagree with being suspended. It’s just the way that they dealt with it afterwards.”

Miss Thorpe faced a disciplinary hearing and the allegation against her was not upheld.

However, the patient later died and a separate investigation was launched, as a result of which Miss Thorpe was kept off work for a total of two years.

When she was eventually told she could return to work, she felt her reputation had been tainted and she was not getting the support she was hoping for from the trust, so she resigned.

Lynne Shaw, executive director of workforce at the trust, said they had put measures in place for Miss Thorpe’s return, including a return-to-work plan and mentor.

“However, Ms Thorpe decided to end her employment with the trust.”

Miss Thorpe sued the trust for constructive unfair dismissal, unlawful deduction of wages and breach of contract, and won on all three counts.

“I thought, if I take them to tribunal then I can actually officially clear my name and say to them you can’t treat people this way.”

Miss Thorpe said the tribunal process was not just very difficult but also very costly, and she was concerned about the wider impact on the NHS.

“We always hear that the NHS has got no money and they’re struggling for nurses, but they’re literally haemorrhaging money on cases like mine,” she said.

“Lengthy suspensions are so expensive. Why is it that this is what taxpayers are spending their money on when it should be on care?”

Ms Shaw said the trust was disappointed with the outcome of the tribunal but “respect its findings and will look at what lessons can be learned”.