Porn nurse caution 'too lenient'
 

Porn nurse caution 'too lenient'

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3486780.stm

A regulatory body has gone to the High Court to try to get a tougher penalty imposed on a paediatric nurse who accessed pornography at work.
The Council for the Regulation of Healthcare Professionals argues giving Steven Truscott a caution was too lenient.

They want the decision, by the Nursing and Midwifery Council, quashed, and a new hearing ordered.

Mr Truscott was working on a children's ward at the time of the incident.

Thomas de la Mare, appearing for the CRHP, told Mr Justice Collins: "The CRHP believes the facts reveal that Mr Truscott is an individual who, simply put, lacks any of the appropriate qualities of judgment appropriate within a responsible caring profession."

Mr Truscott, from Southampton, Hampshire, accessed hardcore pornography - including images of rape - while working on the Middlesex Adolescent Unit at University College London Hospitals NHS Trust.

Mr de La Mare added: "Most troubling of all were images of child pornography or pseudo child pornography - all at a time when he was a paediatric nurse in charge of a ward of vulnerable children."

Mr Truscott was found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

Expressed regret

Rather than removing his name from the professional register, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), taking into account the fact that he had expressed regret, decided to give him a caution. He later lost his job.

The police investigated the case, but decided not to prosecute as the material accessed by Mr Truscott, although pornographic, was legal.

The hearing is being closely watched by other NHS regulatory bodies and health care professionals as it will lay down guidelines for how similar future cases should be dealt with.

Mr de la Mare said the CRHP had been set up to oversee the work of healthcare professionals in the NHS, ensuring consistency "across the board" among NHS regulatory bodies.

Robert Lawson, for the NMC, argued the council's professional conduct committee had sufficient experience and expertise to deal with the case appropriately.