'Bullying' Wakefield nurse who said she could 'get away with what she wanted' is struck off

A nurse in the Wakefield district who was found to have bullied and intimidated colleagues over a four-year period has been struck off.

Matilda Jane Farnell, who worked as a community staff nurse for the Mid Yorkshire NHS Trust, was brought before a disciplinary panel recently for a catalogue of misdemeanours dated between 2014 and 2018.

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This included making threatening comments against management, commenting about staff on Facebook, belittling colleagues, and made threats to approach the Wakefield Express.

A nurse has been struck off after it was found that she had bullied and intimidated colleagues.A nurse has been struck off after it was found that she had bullied and intimidated colleagues.
A nurse has been struck off after it was found that she had bullied and intimidated colleagues.

She even boasted about "getting away with what she wanted".

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Registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), Mrs Farnell was brought before a fitness-to-practise committee to answer multiple allegations.

The hearing was told that she was employed as a healthcare assistant in the NHS trust's community rapid response team from 2008.

However, she was moved teams four times after making claims of bullying against her by senior staff members, which were unsubstantiated.

Following an internal investigation by the trust, she was dismissed in October 2018, which was upheld after an appeal.

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The charges against her rose while she was employed at The Bungalow, a care unit in Castleford.

During the hearing, evidence was provided by eight of her former colleagues.

Included in the long list, it was found that she:

* Told one colleague she was under investigation, which was untrue.

* Threatened to report a colleague to the Wakefield Express.

* Told a team member she was not qualified to be there.

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* Was heard to say on several occasions: "It's great when your best friend is the manager because you can get away with anything and do what you want", or words to that effect.

* Posted messages on Facebook to intimidate colleagues.

* Was heard to say on several occasions: "I’m going to take them ******* down", or words to that effect.

* Was heard to say: "If them ******* finish me, my son will come in and wipe the floor with them", or words to that effect.

Speaking on her behalf, solicitor Alexander Adam said that some of the allegations did not amount to misconduct, but as a whole, they did.

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He invited the panel to assess whether your behaviour contravened the NMC code, and while her behaviour was negative, it did not stop anyone from carrying out their role, working as a team and completing their workload.

He told the panel that the work was completed regardless of anyone’s feelings or comments.

Mr Adam said although she "went too far" in sharing her feelings, there was no discrimination against any members of staff.

He told the panel that there have been no further concerns or repeated behaviour since leaving the trust, and that she had been practising unrestricted.

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Ben Edwards, on behalf of the NMC, told Mrs Farnell that she had been dishonest, and added: "There is no regard for the people your behaviour impacted.

"You became a registered nurse and have been practicing for over eight years. You should have known your behaviour was unacceptable.

"Other nurses in the profession would be appalled and members of the public, disgusted, if they were made aware of the charges found proved against you.

"You were an experienced nurse who should have known better, you bullied and intimidated senior and junior staff, demonstrated deep-seated attitudinal issues, which persisted over a long period of time."

She was given an 18-month interim suspension order to come into immediate effect, and will be given 28 days to appeal.

If no appeal is forthcoming, a full substantive striking-off order will be made.

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