BLACKPOOL NURSE SUSPENDED OVER SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF JUNIORS
A senior nurse has been suspended from practising for six months after a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel found he sexually harassed two junior colleagues over several years.Andrew Paul Henson, a Band 7 registered nurse whose relevant practice was in Blackpool, appeared before the NMC’s Fitness to Practise Committee in London, accused of misconduct towards two staff nurses, referred to as Colleagues A and D.
The panel found his fitness to practise impaired and imposed a six‑month suspension order following a substantive hearing which concluded last month.
The charges centred on inappropriate comments of a sexual nature and unwanted physical contact in the workplace.
In one incident in or around 2018, Mr Henson told a junior colleague, “your t**s look good in that," or words to that effect, after she had undergone a breast augmentation.
Around 2020, he passed her as she set up a ventilator and remarked, “I’ve got big piping like that," which she understood as a sexual reference.
The panel found this behaviour towards Colleague D was unprofessional, a breach of professional boundaries, and amounted to intimidating and harassing conduct which was unwanted, related to her sex and of a sexual nature.
Although it concluded his comments were not sexually motivated in the sense of seeking a relationship or sexual gratification, it said they violated her dignity and created an intimidating and hostile environment.
More serious findings related to Colleague A, a younger staff nurse.
On March 26, 2021, Mr Henson invited her to a private office under the pretext of discussing mandatory training, locked the door when they were alone, massaged her shoulders, placed his hand on her leg and tried to kiss her.
The panel rejected his claim that the contact with her leg was accidental, preferring her “measured and fair” account that it was deliberate.
It found his conduct towards her was sexually motivated, intimidating, and harassing, violating her dignity and creating an intimidating and degrading environment.
The panel said Mr Henson’s actions represented serious sexual misconduct, an abuse of his senior position, and a clear breach of the NMC Code, bringing the nursing profession into disrepute.
While it accepted he had shown developing insight, undertaken professional boundaries training, and worked without further incident for more than four years, it concluded a finding of impairment was required on public interest grounds alone.
Determining that a caution or conditions of practice would not be sufficient to mark the gravity of the case, the panel imposed a six‑month suspension, saying anything less would fail to maintain public confidence and uphold proper professional standards.
It declined to make an interim order, noting there was no ongoing risk to patients or colleagues and that Mr Henson’s impairment finding was based solely on public interest considerations.
