Paul Johnson: Hull midwife who took C-section photos struck off

Paul Johnson worked as a midwife for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust from 2002 until 2020

A senior midwife who was found to have bullied colleagues and taken photos of two women without their consent during Caesarean sections has been struck off.

Paul Johnson, 56, who worked at Hull Royal Infirmary's Women and Children's Hospital, was suspended in late 2020.

In total, 29 charges were proven at a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) misconduct hearing and he was found to have committed serious misconduct.

The panel heard women "must be able to trust midwives with their lives".

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Multiple charges of behaving in an "intimidating, bullying or unsupportive manner" towards colleagues were among those the hearing had found to be proven.

The hearing previously heard Mr Johnson took the photos of the women having C-sections at the hospital and sent them to a colleague with whom he was in a relationship.

The hearing previously heard Mr Johnson was in a senior managerial position and had delivered hundreds of babies in Hull

The colleague was also sent a video of him performing a sex act in a hospital toilet while on duty, with Mr Johnson also gaining the ward nickname of the "Scarlet Pimpernel" due to repeated instances of him disappearing while on shift.

Derek McFaul, NMC panel chair, told the hearing that "midwives must be honest, open and act with integrity".

"Members of the public would find it difficult to place their trust in a midwife who had displayed bullying, sexually inappropriate and intimidating behaviour, made sexual comments to patients and colleagues, made dishonest representations to his employer and put patients at risk of harm by means of his poor management of a ward," he said.

Mr Johnson told the panel on Thursday he was on a "downward spiral" at the time due to private problems arising from the relationship with the colleague.

'Improved culture'

He told the hearing: "I'm able to look now and see the impact some of my behaviour has had on people who surrounded me and I am sorry for the experience they had and I'm sorry for the fact they had to experience it."

Mr Johnson worked for Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust for 18 years and delivered hundreds of babies in the city.

An 18-month interim suspension order was put in place, allowing Mr Johnson the opportunity to lodge an appeal against the NMC panel's decision.

In a statement, the NHS trust said: "In the two years since he last worked for us our maternity service has worked hard to improve the culture and team-working of the unit.

"This work has included regular communication with staff, leadership training and coaching, as well as introducing new and improved ways of working."