Broadmoor: Nurse 'in relationship' with former patient struck off

A nurse who had a relationship with a patient at a high-security psychiatric hospital before resuming it years later has been struck off.

Trudy Megan Davies, who worked at Broadmoor Hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, also exchanged gifts with the patient, but the relationship appeared to end after an investigation and her resignation.

In 2022, more than a decade later, she told a colleague at the Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Trust that the relationship had resumed with the former patient and she was reported to the nursing regulator.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) said her misconduct "put patients, colleagues, the public and the security of the hospital at risk".

When the relationship started, she was working on a ward for patients with serious personality disorders.

The patient was transferred to another secure unit in another county for assessment but staff noticed he was spending hours at a time on the phone.

He would not say who he was speaking to and "as [he] would not provide the information requested" he was transferred back to Broadmoor.

An internal investigation found Miss Davies and the patient had been talking to each other and had started a relationship.

Miss Davies accepted her actions were "a severe breach of trust and professionalism" and "distorted" his view of her as a nurse.

She told the NMC that the pair were "maintaining [their] relationship and looking to build a future together".

The NMC's panel said she had prioritised that relationship over her career and that allowing her to practise as a nurse "would undermine public confidence in the profession".