Nurse Struck Off After CCTV Captures Assault on Vulnerable Patient

A nurse has been removed from the professional register following an incident where she was recorded on CCTV striking a vulnerable patient under her care. Catherine Ann Beevers was captured on video assaulting the individual, who suffered from profound learning difficulties and required round-the-clock care, across three separate shifts spanning from late May 2023 to early July 2023. Following an investigation conducted by Dorset Healthcare University NHS Trust, she was referred to the nursing regulatory body and subsequently arrested in July 2023. At Poole Magistrates’ Court in October 2023, Beevers pleaded guilty to charges of assault and ill-treatment of the patient. She received a sentence requiring her to perform 120 hours of unpaid community service and pay £750 in compensation. According to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), she informed police that she “had not realised how rough she had been and could not provide an explanation for her actions”. She also stated that she was “ashamed of what she saw in the video and accepted that the footage showed her assaulting [the patient]”. The NMC declared that refraining from action would be “wholly disproportionate” and allowing her to continue practicing in the future “would not be sufficient to mitigate the risks in this case”. Beevers had been listed on the NMC’s professional register since 1996.