Nurse Struck Off After Patient Dies During Car Park Liaison

A nurse who was having an affair with a patient has been struck off, following his death while they were together in his car.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) took the decision to remove nurse Penelope Williams after a man, known as Patient A, collapsed in his vehicle parked at Wrexham’s Spire Hospital in January 2022, according to The Independent, Tuesday, July 4.

Patient A was a regular visitor to the Betsi Cadwaladr health board for treatment, where nurse Williams worked in the renal department.

Nurse Failed To Call Ambulance

On the night the fatal incident took place, Ms Williams had visited one of her professional colleagues (Colleague 1), before heading off for a clandestine meeting with Patient A.

In a hearing, chaired by a fitness-to-practice panel, it was revealed that later that night, Colleague 1 received a phone call from a distraught Ms Williams, who was ‘crying and distressed and asking for help as she tried to explain that someone had died.’

Upon hearing this, Ms William’s colleague told her to call an ambulance. Her colleague then met Williams in the car park of the hospital, where Patient A was discovered partially clothed and unresponsive. It transpired that Ms Williams had not called for help as she had been advised.

Patient A was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. The official cause of death was described as ‘heart failure and chronic kidney disease triggered by a medical episode.’

In an initial statement to police and a paramedic, Ms Williams said that she had gone to meet Patient A after he messaged her on Facebook that he was poorly. However, she admitted that the pair were involved in a sexual relationship and that the liaison had been pre-arranged.

Nurse-Patient Relationship Revealed

In February, Williams told an earlier hearing that ‘she met with Patient A and sat at the back of his car for about 30-45 minutes just talking,’ before he became ill and died suddenly.

At a later meeting in May, Ms Williams finally confessed to the nurse–patient relationship and failing to call for an ambulance. The Health Board dismissed her with ‘immediate effect.’

It appears the panel were left with no alternative: ‘The panel was of the view that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that Ms Williams’ actions were so serious that to allow her to continue practising would undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body.’