A female mental health nurse was today facing a conduct hearing accused of pursuing an inappropriate relationship with a vulnerable patient at a Bradford psychiatric hospital.

It is alleged registered nurse Shelley Morrison exchanged phone numbers and gifts with the patient, referred to as Patient A, in documents provided to the hearing.

The documents infer that Patient A had a history of self-harming with references to self-strangulation, cutting and burning. The allegations against Miss Morrison relate to her work on the New Dawn Ward at the Cygnet Hospital in Bierley Lane, Bierley, between June 2009 and November 2009.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) Conduct and Competence Committee substantive hearing was due to start today in London and is expected to last two days. The committee will consider four charges against the nurse.

They are: l that she gave her personal telephone number to Patient A in a Christmas card; l she gave Patient A a necklace and/or a ring; l she accepted a bracelet as a gift from Patient A l and on January 7, 2010 she sent a number of text messages to Patient A.

The text messages include ones in which she says to the patient she is glad they got her number, that she was sorry they didn’t get the chance to say goodbye and one in which she says she hopes the patient isn’t tying things around their neck, cutting or burning themselves.

In the same text she tells the patient: “I wore ur [sic] bracelet on new year eve and of course I still have ur [sic] letters and pic.”

The NMC says that by her actions Miss Morrison was pursuing an inappropriate and/or personal relationship with Patient A and her fitness to practise is impaired by reason of misconduct.

If the allegations are found proved the panel can choose from a range of actions or sanctions, from taking no action to striking Miss Morrison off the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s register.

A spokesman for the hospital said yesterday: “Our number one priority is always our service users and their physical and mental well-being.

“We are of course concerned by these allegations, which is why as soon as we became aware of the situation in 2009, and after following due process, the individual concerned was dismissed from our employment.

“We continue to focus on providing the best support possible for those who depend on our services, and are constantly cognisant of our safeguarding protocols to ensure they are as robust as possible.”