Health worker found guilty of misconduct after hurling abuse at patient

A nurse who was sacked after calling a patient a ‘piece of s***’ must attend a conflict management course to save her career.

Pearl Ramkissoon, who worked at Central Middlesex Hospital in Acton Lane, Park Royal, hurled abuse at the pensioner after he asked how long he would have to wait to see a doctor in November 2008.

She was suspended a month later and fired in 2009 after an internal investigation found her guilty of gross misconduct.

Yesterday (Wednesday), the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found her guilty of misconduct but told her she could continue as a nurse providing she records arguments at work and attends the course.

The panel heard Ramkissoon was working behind reception when she told the patient ‘Don’t wave your dirty little finger at me’, before asking ‘Are you from the gutter, you dirty little s***?’

Healthcare assistant Matthew Raymond-Knight told the hearing he had been working in the same department when he heard ‘raised voices’.

He said he had seen the patient wag his finger at Ramkissoon when he went to investigate.

He added: “After the raised finger he was saying, ‘You shouldn’t talk to me. You should have some manners. Who do you think you are?’

“She said, ‘You shouldn’t talk to me like that. Don’t you point your dirty little finger at me. Are you from the gutter?’’

Ramkissoon had denied the string of charges against her but the panel rejected her defence that the patient had provoked her by insulting her.

Paul Morris, panel chairman, said: “The panel was not presented with any corroborative evidence to support the registrant’s claim.”

Ramkissoon did not attend the NMC hearing due to ill health but sent a representative.

She had not formally admitted or denied any of the charges against her.