A mental health nurse at Dundee’s Carseview who was struck off for sending “sexually-motivated” messages to a former patient has hit out at his treatment.
Gordon Linton was dismissed for gross misconduct at the NHS Tayside facility shortly after the messages came to light in April 2020.
And now the industry regulator, the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), has ruled he is no longer fit to work in the sector.
The tribunal found it proven that the 53-year-old sent and received hundreds of messages to and from the woman after she left the unit where she was being treated as an in-patient.
Mr Linton says he “deeply regrets” what happened but claims his treatment was over-the-top.
‘Will you still marry me?’
Among the Facebook messages heard by the tribunal were ones in which he described the unnamed woman as “beautiful”, “adorable” and an “absolute babe”.
He also suggested they go out on a date and later said “will you still marry me?”
This is despite sector guidelines making clear sexual relationships between healthcare professionals and former patients are fraught with risk.
The advice highlights the imbalance of power and the risk of doing harm to the patient, who could still be vulnerable.
Mr Linton, who is now a care worker, said: “What happened was I ended up embroiled in an exchange of messages over about a week with a former service user.
“But it was nothing libidinous; it was not like that and I have evidence of that.
“And it wasn’t like I was texting her when she was in Carseview; she had been discharged.
“I deeply regret what happened and I know I acted foolishly. I just want to get on with my life.”
The decision by the NMC means Mr Linton, who did not attend the virtual hearing held at the end of January, has lost his licence to practice as a nurse in the UK.
It found his fitness to practise was impaired and that the messages were sexually motivated in that they were sent in pursuit of a future sexual relationship.
The tribunal members described his actions as “pestering” particularly because he continued to contact the patient after she asked him to stop.
‘There really is no clear line’
Mr Linton says he feels the guidelines on interaction with former patients are not black and white.
He said: “Their argument is that I crossed a line but there really is no clear line.
“They ran with it and I felt the whole hearing was a foregone conclusion.
“I have former colleagues that have told me they think it’s crazy I lost my job over this.
“I have an unblemished record as a nurse over 20 years.
“It wasn’t wrong but I do accept it was dumb.”
Mr Linton added: “To be honest, I don’t miss working there and I love my job now.
“I want to move on from it all but I also wanted to share my side of things.”
Conversation