Brighton mental health nurse cleared of misconduct (From The Argus)

Brighton mental health nurse cleared of misconduct

3:40pm Thursday 26th July 2012 in News By Peter Truman

A prison nurse who kept love letters from an inmate has been cleared of misconduct.

Lynn Hamilton admitted taking home the amorous notes while working at Ford open prison near Arundel.

The 51-year-old from Brighton cried when told the prisoner was being moved to Lewes Prison.

But her relationship with the prisoner, in September 2009, was not inappropriate and she had not acted in a “sexually motivated” way, the Nursing and Midwifery Council has ruled.

She was also cleared of having an inappropriate relationship with a second prisoner at Ford prison between July 2005 and summer 2006.

Miss Hamilton did not appear at the hearing, having told The Argus in February she believed the NMC had already decided to strike her off.

It is the second time the mental health nurse has appeared before the NMC, having received a five-year caution in 2004 for having an affair with a convicted robber while she was working at Rosslyn House in Hailsham, a mental unit where he was being treated.

'Love at first sight'

Miss Hamilton, a divorcee who arranged “therapeutic” trips to the cinema and swimming baths, admitted the relationship was wrong but said she couldn’t control herself as it was “love at first sight”.

At the time Miss Hamilton said: “I do still have a relationship with Patient A, a very loving supportive and intimate one.

“He lives independently in Eastbourne and I live in Brighton.

“Even though we are very close we do not live together at the moment because I am a single parent with an 11-year-old daughter and my first priority is to her.

“If the situation arose again I would remove myself from the situation. I don’t anticipate falling in love with somebody again.”

But the panel in the latest case decided this previous relationship was not relevant, as accusations about an inappropriate relationship this time were not proved.

At the hearing it was concluded Miss Hamilton’s fitness to practice as a nurse had not been impaired and she was free to continue in her profession.