A NURSE has been struck off for having an inappropriate relationship with a patient at Airedale Hospital.

A misconduct hearing of the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) this month (June) was told that Diana-Lavinia Croitoru kissed and cuddled the man, gave him her own mobile number and allowed him to stay overnight at her home.

An Airedale spokesman has said the hospital took action as soon as it was aware of the problem, adding that patients' care and safety is a top priority for the hospital.

The wrongdoing began when Croitoru was employed by Airedale NHS Foundation Trust during Christmas 2015.

The patient – who can only be identified as Patient A – was admitted due to an overdose and depression.

He and Croitoru had lengthy, friendly conversations, spending significant amounts of time together during the shift.

The nurse gave the patient her own telephone number and the pair also shared a hug and a kiss.

Before she finished her shift, Patient A left a note with his name and telephone number in the hood of Croitoru's jacket.

The relationship continued after her shift had ended with the pair exchanging texts and phone calls.

After Patient A was discharged on New Year's Eve his mother called the hospital not knowing where her son was. She was advised to get in touch with the police.

It was when Patient A was located at the nurse's home address that Airedale NHS Trust became aware of what their employee had been doing.

The trust first suspended her and after that she resigned.

But Croitoru applied for another nursing job in Wales and claimed she had never worked for the NHS before. She was offered a job as a nurse in Swansea.

At a disciplinary hearing at Airedale on July 6 last year Croitoru explained that she had only been trying to support Patient A and was able to convince him that he was wrong to attempt suicide.

She admitted hugging him but argued that such behaviour was acceptable where she was from – Romania – so had not realised it was inappropriate in the UK.

She stressed she had not had sex with Patient A, and that in Romania it would not be seen as wrong for a nurse to enter a relationship with someone who had been a patient so soon after their discharge from hospital.

Croitoru said that she: "invited him to visit me at home as I thought this was OK because of moral support I provided him in hospital."

But her actions were ruled to be "misconduct" by the NMC panel.

In agreeing to strike her off, the panel said her behaviour had "crossed professional boundaries" and that she had also been "deliberately dishonest."

The panel concluded: "She has breached fundamental tenets of the profession and has brought the nursing profession into disrepute.

"Nothing short of a striking-off order is appropriate and proportionate in this case."

Jill Asbury, interim director of nursing at Airedale, said: “The care and safety of our patients is paramount.

"As soon as we became aware of the situation involving Miss Croitoru we acted swiftly to deal with matters through Trust processes, and to make the appropriate referral to the Nursing and Midwifery Council. Miss Croitoru left the Trust on March 17 2016.”