An NHS nurse, Jessica Thorpe, has been suspended for more than two years following a male patient claimed that she was pregnant with his child. It has won an unfair dismissal claim.
In April 2020, Jessica Thorpe was placed under investigation by a hospital authority three days following a patient’s claim that he was having an inappropriate relationship with Jessica Thorpe.
The guy was a patient in a secure facility who had come into contact with the criminal justice system. However, later, in December of that year, the patient died.
Despite the patient’s death, the NHS nurse remained suspended. Ms. Thorpe has worked for Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne, and Wear NHS Foundation Trust since 2016 as a healthcare and then as a nursing assistant.
Ms. Thorpe ran social media influencers’ accounts Slice of Jess, earning her almost 20,000 Pound a year. The NHS nurse was told to return to work but resigned instead.
Ms. Thorpe said that her disciplinary hearing did not come about until July 2021. It is more than a year after the allegations were made.
The ruling panel did not have any concluding evidence to uphold the allegation, but she did not receive any outcome letter. She also added that she was also told by the trust that it hadn’t reached a conclusion yet.
Judge Simon Loy told a tribunal hearing in Newcastle that the tribunal had concluded that there was no reasonable and potential cause for the continued suspension of Ms. Thorpe.
He also added that Ms. Thorpe was placed in double jeopardy after July 21, 2021. He continued that Ms. Thorpe was in a completely unsatisfactory position.
During the suspension period, the NHS nurse started to share images of food on Instagram, which led to her generating 50,000 followers.
Thus she became a food influencer. Judge Loy said that around the same time, Ms. Thorpe started making YouTube videos. He also added that by the time her witness statement was made, the claimant had 25,000 subscribers to her channel.
The tribunal accepted the NHS nurse’s desire to pursue a career as a social media influencer and to avoid working at the Trust. Judge Loy said that they had considerable sympathy for the Trust’s position.
The judge said that the tribunal must apply the applicable legal principles.
He added that there are no restrictions on the innocent party to a repudiatory breach from seeking to earn money from other activities that are not expressly prohibited by the contract of employment.
However, Ms. Thorpe’s payout will be decided at a future hearing.
