New guidelines issued for restoration of nurses

New guidelines governing the restoration of nurses and midwives who have been struck off the register for offences including rape, child abuse and physical assault, have been agreed by the professions' regulatory body. The guidelines follow a national furore over the decision by the United Kingdom Central Council for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Visiting in March to allow a convicted rapist to return to practise as a mental nurse.

The man raped a former patient in her home in 1983. It later emerged that he had a previous conviction for drugging a patient in order to have sex with her. He was working as a care assistant - a non-nursing post - at a home in East Sussex when details of his case became public. The Royal College of Nursing mounted a legal challenge to the UKCC's decision, saying it was not in the public interest for the man to practise after two convictions.