Nurse wrongly accused of affair ‘mourning lack of occupation’

A nurse who used to be falsely accused of getting an irrelevant courting with a psychological well being affected person says she is in “mourning” for her misplaced occupation.

Jessica Thorpe, from Newcastle, used to be operating as a nurse for the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust when she used to be suspended after a affected person claimed she used to be pregnant together with his kid.

This week an employment tribunal dominated she used to be entitled to £23,500 repayment from the believe, which mentioned it used to be disillusioned with the positive 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 mentioned.

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

Miss Thorpe joined the believe in 2016 and used to be sporting out a nursing apprenticeship with Sunderland University when the allegations surfaced in 2020.

In the 5 years which ended with the tribunal court cases, the nurse fought to transparent her title.

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

“I’ve used such things as social media to distract me from that and fake that it is not taking place.

“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 began an Instagram and YouTube profile which turned into so in style she made sufficient cash from her posts to permit her to pay the expenses after leaving nursing.

“Social media was a complete accident for me,” she mentioned. “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 used to be a complete distraction to me, it took me clear of the truth of what used to be happening in my existence.”

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 truthfully felt a little bit unwell – I could not consider that it had in reality escalated this a long way, taking into consideration I had already raised considerations,” she mentioned.

“I do not disagree with being suspended. It’s simply the way in which that they handled it afterwards.”

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

“I assumed, if I take them to tribunal then I will be able to in reality formally transparent my title and say to them you’ll be able to’t deal with other people this fashion.”