A senior nurse at a mental health facility in Greater Manchester has been struck off the nursing register after being filmed by an undercover BBC reporter making highly inappropriate comments about a vulnerable patient. Emma Doherty, a Band 6 deputy ward manager at the former Edenfield Centre, was heard suggesting that an autistic patient 'needed a good thrashing' and should be sent to prison.
The revelations emerged from the BBC Panorama documentary 'Undercover Hospitals: Patients at Risk', which aired in September 2022. The programme featured covert footage from inside the Edenfield Centre, part of Prestwich Hospital, which was designed to care for patients with severe psychiatric illnesses detained for their own safety. Doherty was also recorded stating that the patient would 'soon be brought down a peg or two'.
Following the broadcast, Greater Manchester Mental Health (GMMH) NHS Foundation Trust stated it took immediate action to protect patients. The Edenfield Centre was subsequently closed temporarily and has since been rebranded as the Riverside Centre. Doherty admitted a range of misconduct charges to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), the regulatory body for nurses in the UK. She had already been dismissed by the trust in October 2022.
An independent disciplinary panel, in its written ruling, acknowledged Doherty's 'remorse' and her statement of being 'profoundly sorry' for the impact of her comments. In her defence, Doherty cited challenging ward conditions, including understaffing, a lack of support, and a 'toxic culture' where morale was low and staff felt burnt out and frustrated. She claimed that concerns about staffing levels and burnout were raised with management but went unaddressed.
However, the panel found she had not demonstrated sufficient insight into how she became involved in the toxic culture or why she failed to challenge it. The panel deemed her language 'completely unacceptable,' particularly her admission that 'thrashing' meant 'hit'. They concluded that as a senior nurse, suggesting violence as a means to deal with a vulnerable patient was not compassionate and could encourage junior colleagues to cause harm. This ruling means Doherty is permanently prohibited from working in a nursing role in the UK.
The Panorama documentary also exposed other serious issues at the unit, including staff using inappropriate restraint methods and patients enduring prolonged periods of isolation in small, bare rooms. An undercover reporter, Alan Haslam, recorded staff swearing at patients and, on occasion, slapping or pinching them. A Greater Manchester Police investigation, initiated due to Panorama's findings, has led to a nurse and a care worker being charged with multiple counts of ill-treating or wilfully neglecting an individual.