A GLASGOW nurse who slapped a dementia patient after he spat in her face has been suspended by regulators and warned by the courts.

An inquiry was told Neheng Owen ‘reacted instinctively’ after a patient spat at her during a routine procedure but that her actions were, ‘serious and reprehensible.’

A staff nurse and an auxilliary nurse witnessed the incident at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

The nurse had been carrying out a bladder scan on an elderly man with dementia and had bent down to speak to him because his hearing was impaired.

The patient is then said to have spat in the nurse’s face and she reacted by slapping him in the temple area of his face.

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The patient was not injured, however, the incident was reported to police and the nurse faced an internal investigation by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

The Procurator Fiscal Depute said there was sufficient evidence to raise court proceedings against her but it would not be pursued, ‘in this case.’ Instead, she was issued with a warning.

During a recent inquiry by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) the nurse admitted slapping the patient but said she had been trying to, ‘deflect or wipe away the spit.’

The incident happened on September 1, 2016.

A panel of the NMC noted that the nurse had expressed regret and that it was an isolated incident in a long career but added: “He was a vulnerable dementia patient who was undergoing a necessary but routine procedure. He was known to behave unpredictably.

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“He spat at Mrs Owen, and her reaction – albeit instinctive – was to slap him to the face.

“The panel accepts that Mrs Owen did not intend to cause him harm, but the risk of her causing some harm, even if only shock and momentary discomfort, was unwarranted.

“The fact that the conduct took place during a routine hospital procedure were

aggravating features which rendered Mrs Owen’s actions both serious and reprehensible.”

The nurse was suspended for a year and is entitled to appeal the decision.