Bradford care leaver nurses breached professional boundaries

Elizabeth Gilmartin and Nicola East both breached professional boundaries between July 13, 2021 and March 4, 2022, a Nursing and Midwifery Council misconduct panel heard.

The panel held a virtual hearing across nine days at the end of October in relation to both women.

Gilmartin, who has retired after almost 40 years as a nurse, was handed a striking-off order due to a “deep-seated attitudinal problem” after continually blurring professional boundaries.

East, who first qualified in adult nursing in 1993, was given a conditions of practice order for 12 months as she has “taken positive steps in an attempt to address the concerns”.

The conditions include ensuring she is supervised anytime she is working and keeping a reflective practice profile.

The two nurses were working for Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust as Band 7 Specialist Nurses for Care Leavers at the time.

The patient, who was involved in organised crime, had a history of suicidal thoughts, and been the victim of sexual exploitation, had recently transferred to the Leaving Care team.

He was part of East’s caseload for four months in 2021 but she remained involved with his care when he was transferred to Gilmartin after that.

Both were involved in the same “highly inappropriate” telephone conversation with the care leaver, which took place in September 2021, according to a report from the hearing.

East said during the conversation: “It’s only cos we care about you, we want you do to well so you can look after us when we are old biddies, that’s why we do it.”

Referring to one staff member, Gilmartin said: "I can’t be in the same room as him I want to f****** kill him”.

She also said: “Yeah, well don’t ever give me a AK47 trust me there will be nobody left standing up there.”

It was noted that Gilmartin “took the lead” during the call and the panel accepted East did not make some of the more serious comments.

But she was involved and engaged in it and “did nothing to challenge the extremely inappropriate content”.

Gilmartin also had two other inappropriate phone calls with the patient and on one occasion “disclosed very personal details about a date she went on at the weekend”.

East said she was “mortified” having heard the call back and claimed she was working in the background so not concentrating, while Ms Gilmartin said she “deeply” regretted the calls involving her.

Texts seen by the panel showed Gilmartin refer to herself as “earth mother” or “mother” when speaking to the patient.

The care user claimed Gilmartin asked him to call her by this name because he “did not have a birth mother, but now I had an earth mother, and they would guide me”.

He said he thought it was “quite weird” and claimed Gilmartin said it “turned them on to have someone call them ‘earth mother’”.

Gilmartin denied that she asked the patient to call her this and instead claimed he referred to her in this way because on occasion she had texted to tell him “to get up and get ready for college” and she “nagged” him.

It was also proved that Gilmartin gave the patient greetings cards and or an Amazon gift card and/or cash and contacted him outside of working hours without clinical justification.

Both nurses also failed to record significant information disclosed by the patient in their records.

Gilmartin said she “never intended to do any harm” to the patient with her actions or “cause offence to other members of staff discussed in the telephone conversations”.

East has been working as a Band 5 nurse in a special needs nursing team at a school since, often under supervision.

She provided evidence of remorse and came across as “passionate and professional” during the proceedings.

The report said it has served as a “sharp shock” to East and she has “learned her lesson”.

Both women have 28 days to appeal the decision.