Hull midwife Paul Johnson 'gloated' about sneaking to sex shop

Paul Johnson has worked as a midwife for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and faces 29 charges at a Nursing and Midwifery Council misconduct hearing

A senior midwife "gloated" to a colleague about leaving the ward unnoticed to go to a sex shop, a misconduct hearing was told.

Paul Johnson is said to have told staff he was going to move his car but later sent a co-worker a message to say he had been to buy "poppers".

He was suspended from his job at Hull Royal Infirmary's Women and Children's Hospital in 2020.

Mr Johnson, who was not present and not represented, faces 29 charges in total.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council misconduct hearing previously heard Mr Johnson had been dubbed the "Scarlet Pimpernel" due to repeated instances of him disappearing while on shift.

One witness, who was in a relationship with Mr Johnson at the time, told the panel: "He wrote me a message to say that he'd gone to an adult store probably about ten minutes away from where we work - I remember him coming back and gloating that it had only taken him a certain amount of time and nobody had noticed."

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Mr Johnson had worked for the hospital trust since 2002 and delivered hundreds of babies in Hull

Mr Johnson is also accused of acting in an "intimidating, bullying or unsupportive manner" towards co-workers and taking and sharing photos of two women having Caesarean sections without their consent

The witness described how she had immediately felt "scared" and "intimidated" by his behaviour when she started working with him.

She said he would "give you a dressing down to embarrass you" in front of patients and on one occasion reduced her to tears before following her to another room, holding the door shut and telling her she was "stupid".

"It was embarrassing, it didn't feel like an environment I could work in as it didn't feel I had anybody to go to should I feel I needed help," she said.

She said that when Mr Johnson showed her the photos of women having Caesarean sections she was "completely and utterly shocked".

"As a woman and a mother I put myself in that position, I thought if that was me and I found out about it I'd be horrified," she said.

The hearing continues.