A Bradford nurse dragged an 85-year-old dementia patient across the floor after she fell in a nursing home.

Pamela Savage was found guilty of professional misconduct yesterday by the United Kingdom Central Council (UKCC) for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting.

But the former Bradford midwife has been allowed to continue her 37-year career, which colleagues described as "exemplary".

Mrs Savage was suspended from her post at Field Head Park nursing home on Kitson Hill Road in Mirfield after being accused of failing to examine the resident on November 13, 1999.

The UKCC committee heard how the resident was discovered lying on the floor by her 85-year-old husband and a care assistant, who fetched Mrs Savage for help.

The husband said the pair took her by the arms and dragged her to a chair, her feet trailing on the floor.

"I could hear little sounds of pain," he said. "I grabbed a chair and went up behind them and said, 'For God's sake, put her down on the chair' but she carried on. There was no examination - nothing at all."

The resident was later examined in her bedroom by Mrs Savage, who called an ambulance. She was diagnosed with a fractured femur (thigh bone) and operated on the following day.

Mrs Savage, who worked in Bradford's maternity unit for more than 20 years and the Yorkshire Clinic in Bingley, denied all charges, claiming she examined the woman from head to toe on the floor.

She admitted with hindsight that it would have been better to bring a chair to the woman.