Andrew Michael Watson took the wheelchair-bound woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, out for drinks at a pub and club after which they kissed and held hands, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal heard.
Upon returning to the Mayfield Aged Care facility, in the north-west of Newcastle, Mr Watson then allegedly announced in front of staff, “We are going to her room to make out”.
Mr Watson, who was on a day off from his job at the nursing home, and the patient, went into her room and closed the door, according to staff.
Once inside, he undressed the patient and stripped down to his underwear before getting into bed with her and kissing and cuddling, the tribunal heard.
Shortly afterwards, a nursing assistant says she knocked on the door to fetch the patient for dinner but Mr Watson called out, “We are busy, go away”.
Another nurse got the same response before a senior nurse went into the room and spoke to Mr Watson and the patient, according to evidence. Police were called, with their report suggesting the pair had engaged in intimate contact beyond kissing and cuddling.
According to the patient, however, they did not have sex. The tribunal’s opinion was that they’d had “sexual relations” even if there wasn’t sufficient evidence that intercourse had occurred.
Mr Watson was suspended from duties and did not return to Mayfield Aged Care.
The patient, described as a 51-year-old Aboriginal woman with an extensive medical history including anxiety and depression and a congenital hip condition, was receiving respite care at the aged care facility when the incident happened in October 2013.
Her usual residence is in Mount Isa, Queensland, but she’d travelled to NSW for her daughter’s wedding. Mr Watson, also aged 51, was involved in her care in his role as a nurse.
In a letter to the tribunal, the patient defended Mr Watson’s actions and said he’d behaved like “a gentleman” and that she’d had “a wonderful time”.
She estimated in an earlier statement she drank about five rum and Cokes over the course of six hours while they’d been out and was “merry” on their return to the facility and that Mr Watson had two beers for each of her drinks and was “happy”. She hadn’t drunk too much, she claimed, because she had to operate her power chair responsibly.
“Everyone greeted us on our return,” she said in a letter to the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission. “I invited Andrew to come to my respite room to talk some more. Andrew did tell the staff we were going to make out. We didn’t hide from anyone. Nobody told us it was wrong. The way we were treated was very wrong.
“The day turned bad when some of the nursing staff presumed we were having sex … I was extremely embarrassed when the police were called and I had to explain what happened.”
In its decision published last month, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal upheld the complaint – prosecuted by the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission – that Mr Watson had engaged in professional misconduct by failing to maintain proper professional boundaries, including having improper sexual contact with a patient.
Under professional code of conduct rules, nurses are not supposed to have sexual relationships with patients – and consent is no defence.
The tribunal noted that it would have cancelled Mr Watson’s registration if he’d been working as a nurse. It disqualified him from registering for 18 months.
However, in a twist to the case, Mr Watson is now a full-time carer to the patient whom he says he fell in love with at Mayfield Aged Care.
They are married and live together in Mt Isa.
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