Winterbourne View nurse struck off for punching patient

Winterbourne View private hospital closed in 2012

A nurse who punched a patient in the face at a private hospital near Bristol in 2009 has been struck off.

Patient Ben Pullar, who is autistic and was 18 at the time, lost two front teeth when restrained by Maxwell Nyamukapa at Winterbourne View.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said his "actions fell seriously short of what would be proper".

The NMC found the "excessive level of force" had "caused serious and long-lasting harm" to Mr Pullar.

The incident, which happened on 20 August 2009, took place two years before a TV documentary, secretly filmed by BBC Panorama revealed widespread mistreatment by staff of patients at the care home.

'Dysfunctional and failing'

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said it had carried out a "thorough investigation into a report of an assault".

He said: "Evidence was presented to the CPS who found there was no realistic prospect of conviction in a criminal court and the matter was referred to the Nursing and Midwifery Council."

Maxwell Nyamukapa was then suspended and later reinstated.

The case was referred to the NMC who said in its striking-off order "the panel recognised that Winterbourne View was a dysfunctional and failing organisation with a culture of neglect and abuse".

But the NMC panel said the public "must be able to trust that highly vulnerable patients who, by virtue of their conditions, may sometimes be challenging" should be "safe and cared for by nurses who will keep their interests at the centre of decisions about their care".

Winterbourne View closed in 2012.