I'm mourning my nursing career after a patient falsely claimed I was pregnant with his child
A former NHS nurse who was falsely accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a patient said she is 'mourning the career' she could have had.
Jessica Thorpe, 31, was awarded a payout of £24,100 last week, after winning her claim against the Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, which suspended her over claims by a psychiatric patient that she was pregnant with his child.
Following a 2.5-year suspension, Thorpe took legal action against the trust. She told Yahoo News the verdict meant she 'could breathe again' but explained: 'I'm mourning the fact that if none of this had happened, I would be a nurse now. I would be qualified.'
Thorpe had been working with the trust on a nursing apprenticeship scheme when a patient, known as Patient X, falsely accused her of being pregnant with his child in April 2020.
Thorpe was initially suspended for what the trust described to her as a 'two-week fact find,' while they conducted their investigation.
'I wasn't allowed to come on the site and I wasn't allowed to speak to any staff whatsoever. So they immediately kind of isolated me from everyone,' Thorpe told Yahoo News. 'I felt like I was a criminal and that there was a very guilty until proven innocent mindset.'
Despite a disciplinary hearing in July 2021 finding there was no 'conclusive evidence' to uphold the allegation, the suspension continued.
Thorpe said there was 'just delay after delay after delay and each time there was there was very little sympathy'.
Patient X died during the investigation, but Thorpe only learned of his death at a later date. 'I was terrified that they were going to try and turn this on me,' she said.
'Before I went into the disciplinary hearing, I got this huge pack of information… It was all gossip. It was all rumours. Nobody had seen anything.… I read through it and I thought, 'hell, if I was an outsider looking in, I would have thought I'd done it'.'
She was eventually given the option to return back to work in October 2022. However, by this point, Thorpe says the thought of returning to work caused her anxiety.
'The thought of going back made me so anxious that I thought I can't go back... I thought 'I can't go back, essentially, into the lion's den'. I really didn't think I had any other choice, so I just left.'
After handing in her resignation, Thorpe took legal action against the trust for constructive unfair dismissal, unlawful deduction of wages and breach of contract in early November 2022.
'The purpose of my claim was to get back what I'd lost,' she said.
Despite the outcome being 'a huge sigh of relief,' Thorpe said: 'I think one of the things that has been highlighted to me is just how much money is being wasted from the NHS on cases like mine.'
Thorpe pursued social media during her suspension, eventually winning a UK Top Influencer Award for her content, which often focuses on nurses' rights. However, during the case, her influencer status prompted the trust to argue that her earnings from social media should be considered in the calculation of mitigated losses.
The judge eventually decided to take a percentage of her social media earnings off the total compensation she won, claiming that if Thorpe had returned to work, she would not have earned as much.
Thorpe said: 'I think my social media is seeing me through… It's a great lifestyle. I won't lie. But, you know, I do miss working. I kind of struggle… What am I qualified at? What am I good at? What can I do in terms of a different career path, because nursing is all I've ever really known.'
Lynne Shaw, executive director of Workforce and Organisational Development from Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, said following the verdict: 'Although disappointed with the outcome of the tribunal, we respect its findings and will look at what lessons can be learned. We wish Ms Thorpe well for the future.'
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