A prison nurse is angry at being struck off from the profession for ‘not showing kindness’ after telling an offender to ‘get up’ when she felt he was feigning injury.
Julie Abram, 63, said she was also criticised for calling the ‘young lad’ a prisoner and not a patient following the drama at Hull prison and believes she was sacked because she refused to ‘mollycoddle’ the criminals.
She resigned after 22 years when told she faced disciplinary proceedings over the incident in 2021, when the prisoner tripped over a shoe in his cell on the sex offenders’ wing in the category B jail.
She said she was stunned to learn this week that she had been banned from the nursing profession without her knowledge.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council said she should be struck off the register because she failed to treat the patient with ‘kindness’.
Its Fitness to Practise Committee was told she exhibited a ‘discriminatory’ attitude towards prisoners, which was a ‘deep-seated attitudinal issue’.
Ms Abram said she believed the man was feigning injury and she was wary of inmates lying to get access to medication.
The hearing was told the prisoner was taken to hospital against Ms Abram’s wishes, only to return three hours later, having not needed any medical treatment.
Julie Abram (above) said she was criticised for calling the ‘young lad’ a prisoner and not a patient and believes she was sacked because she refused to ‘mollycoddle’ criminals
Ms Abram resigned after 22 years when told she faced disciplinary proceedings over the incident in 2021, when the prisoner tripped over a shoe in his cell on the sex offenders’ wing in the category B jail (Pictured: HMP Hull)
Ms Abram said she believed the man was feigning injury and she was wary of inmates lying to get access to medication
The panel noted no harm was done to the man but said Ms Abram’s actions by failing to treat him and a colleague ‘with kindness and respect and failing to engage in handover, failure to assess him and using an inappropriate handling technique fell seriously short of the conduct and standards expected of a nurse and so amounted to misconduct’.
Ms Abram said: ‘It seems you have to tuck the prisoners up in bed these days. I had been a nurse since 1980 and worked at the prison 22 years.
‘They just want nice little nurses these days – not me, when I was no use to them.
‘Human resources, said he was a patient. I am sorry but he has got a number and he is a prisoner.’
She was on an overnight shift when the prisoner tripped over his cellmate’s shoe and complained of injuries to his back and ankle.
Ms Abram said: ‘It seems you have to tuck the prisoners up in bed these days. I had been a nurse since 1980 and worked at the prison 22 years’
Ms Abram’s colleague said he needed to go to A&E as he was letting out ‘horrendous screams’. The colleague said Ms Abram went ‘straight into the room raising her voice and telling the patient to get off the floor repeating, ‘C’mon, c’mon, get up’.’
The colleague said Ms Abram ‘tried to get him off the floor but he was in so much pain she couldn’t’.
Ms Abram said she looked at his ankle and feet and saw ‘there was no injury’.
She said: ‘Knowing prisoners well and by his attitude … it was obvious to me he did not have the injury he was stating.’
The panel said: ‘We took into account this was a single incident in a career of over 20 years which took place while Ms Abram was providing direct care. However, the panel was of the view that by not obtaining a handover or carrying out an assessment of the patient, there was a high risk of further harm to that patient.’
