A 53 year old Registered Nurse (Adult) from Hankham, East Sussex was struck from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) register having been convicted of assault.

Mr Paul Nicholas Rush was convicted of two counts of common assault and one count of causing criminal damage on 3 October 2005 at Eastbourne Magistrates Court. Rush was not present on 14 December 2007 when he was subsequently struck off the NMC register by an independent panel of the Nursing and Midwifery Council's Conduct and Competence Committee in London.

The independent panel heard evidence that Mr Rush had previous convictions of assault, which indicate repetitive behaviour and decided that it would be in the public's best interest to strike him from the NMC register.

Commenting on the outcome of the hearing, NMC spokesperson Leila Harris said,

"His behaviour, while not related to his practise, was fundamentally incompatible with what the public expect from a nurse. His actions did not uphold the reputation of the profession and were contrary to the laws of the UK, which put him in breech of the NMC Code of the Conduct."

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is the UK regulator for two professions, nursing and midwifery. The primary purpose of the NMC is protection of the public. It does this through maintaining a register of all nurses, midwives and specialist community public health nurses eligible to practise within the UK and by setting standards for their education, training and conduct. Currently the number of registrants exceeds 682,000. The Nursing and Midwifery Order 2001 (The Order), sets out the NMC's role and responsibilities.

The independent panel is selected from a pool of individuals appointed by the Appointments Board. They come from a variety of backgrounds and are not NMC Council members, nor do they sit on any committee of the Council.

Nursing and Midwifery Council