NJ v Secretary of State for Health (27 March 2008, Care Standards Tribunal)
David Pittaway QC and Jamie Carpenter have succeeded in an appeal against the inclusion of a nurse's name in the Protection of Vulnerable Adults (PoVA) list, kept under Part VII of the Care Standards Act 2000.
The nurse, NJ, who had an otherwise unblemished career, had been accused of raping a 50-year old man with cerebral palsy (X), who was a resident in the home where NJ was the manager. As a result, NJ had been dismissed from his post. Appeals to the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal failed. NJ's former employer had referred him to the Secretary of State for inclusion in the PoVA list. NJ appealed to the Care Standards Tribunal, whose task was to determine whether he had committed rape or any other sexual assault. The evidence against him consisted of the police interview of X and oral evidence from several employees of the home, including two care assistants to whom X had apparently communicated his complaint against NJ. NJ had denied the allegations at every stage. Despite the weight of evidence against him, the tribunal accepted NJ’s account and found that there had been no misconduct. The Secretary of State has asked the tribunal to review its decision, on which a decision is awaited.
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