Sussex nurses struck off as patient's death 'could have been avoided'

Two nurses have been struck off after a patient whose condition was deteriorating took his own life. Iorwerth John and Martin Pettitt worked at Worthing Assessment and Treatment Service (ATS) as community mental health nurses. The man, named only as patient A, took his life in November 2018.

Mr John was working as patient A’s lead practitioner at the time, while Mr Pettitt was a registered nurse on the duty rota. In a misconduct hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), a panel found that Mr John and Mr Pettitt did not review or update patient A’s risk assessment from August to November 2018, despite his condition deteriorating. The panel heard evidence from Patient A’s sister, the team leader for the ATS at the time and the consultant psychiatrist who provided a report for the coroner at the time, among others.

READ MORE: Prison nurse met up with patient and pair kissed on the beach Patient A, who was considered vulnerable, was on an anti-psychotic medication called clozapine. Mr John was told patient A was smoking, but did not liaise with him or inform him about the impact smoking would have on the effectiveness of his medication. Before going on leave that October, Mr John did not provide an adequate handover or make colleagues aware of the recent deterioration in Patient A’s mental health.

The panel also heard that Mr Pettitt sent patient A to Shepherd House, an inpatient recovery unit in Worthing, to have his blood taken at a time when he was not able t.