North Ayrshire nurse struck off for using force against patient

Patrick Gribben forced the woman into a treatment room and forcefully tried to administer medicine and make her drink water.

Regulators, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), have found three charges against Gribben proven and ordered his removal from the register.

The victim, known as Patient A, had been detained at Irvine's Woodland View under the Mental Health Act. She was described by a witness as "absolutely terrified" during the incident.

Following the incident, Gribben faced criminal proceedings but received an absolute discharge.

Gribben, who worked in the acute admission assessment ward and was the night shift charge nurse when the incidents took place in June 2021, did not attend the NMC hearing.

One witness said: “I heard Pat saying 'right, come on'. He didn’t give her a chance, he was in a rage and started pulling at her left arm.

"We encourage patients with a gentle help along, hand under the patient’s elbow but this was not a gentle come along. Patient A never got a chance and the next thing Patient A was on the ground.

"Pat had pulled her so aggressively that Patient A was thrown to the ground.

“When Patient A went down, it pulled him slightly down but he didn’t fall to the ground and when he got back up she came with him. She has been twisted round and landed on her buttocks, she screamed out. I was at the side of the nursing station and went to help Patient A.

“I felt so embarrassed that a staff member had behaved in this way.

"He never gave her the time, he forced her to walk to the treatment room – through pushing and pulling her. Patient A’s facial expression was empty but she continued to scream. He never communicated what he was doing. ”

Witnesses said the patient resisted taking the medication, closing her lips, so Gribben pushed the tablets into the vulnerable woman's mouth using his thumb.

In a written report, another witness said: “This terrible incident caused me a great amount of stress and upset at the time and is still causing me to be anxious and upset with the ongoing investigation.”

Following the incident, Gribben told investigators: "I wouldn’t recognise myself. I am shocked that that could possibly be me and I could do this to someone. Hostile/aggressive – made me, want to be sick. Going by that, really shocked me...

"I am profoundly sorry for the distress that this event caused not only to my colleagues but most importantly to my patient."

In their findings, the NMC said: “The panel considered that Mr Gribben’s conduct in using force on more than one occasion was extremely serious and unprofessional.

"It further noted that Mr Gribben’s actions in using force to get Patient A to the treatment room was likely to have caused emotional and psychological distress as Patient A was scared and screamed.

“The panel considered that Mr Gribben was an experienced mental health nurse and his actions in forcing medication into Patient A’s mouth and forcing her to drink water were unnecessary, dismissive of her care needs and unkind.

"The panel decided that it would be seen as deplorable by other members of the profession and members of the public.”

Striking him off, they added: “Whilst the charges relate to one single incident, there was a sequence of events involving Mr Gribben grabbing and pushing Patient A, forcing the medication into her mouth and then forcing the water into her mouth, causing emotional distress.

“Consequently, having considered all the charges individually and as a whole, the panel determined that Mr Gribben’s actions did fall significantly short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and amounted to serious professional misconduct.”

An NHS Ayrshire and Arran spokesperson said: "We took all necessary steps to have this incident investigated appropriately as soon as it was brought to our attention.

"This individual is no longer employed by NHS Ayrshire and Arran."