Payout for nurse suspended over fake patient claim

A nurse-turned-influencer who was falsely accused of having an inappropriate relationship with a patient will receive compensation from her ex-employer, a tribunal has ruled.

Jessica Thorpe was suspended by the Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust after a patient claimed she was pregnant with his child.

Despite a disciplinary hearing not upholding the allegation against her, the suspension continued for about two years and she resigned in November 2022 - a month after being allowed to return to work.

Posting on social media, Ms Thorpe said she was "finally free". The trust said it was disappointed with the tribunal's findings.

Ms Thorpe had sued the trust for constructive unfair dismissal, unlawful deduction of wages and breach of contract.

A decision published in November by the employment tribunal showed she had won all three counts.

This week, a judge ruled the trust should pay her £23,534, which included compensation for her loss of earnings.

Ms Thorpe joined the trust in 2016 as a healthcare assistant. She was promoted to nursing assistant in 2018, and in January 2020 started a four-year nursing degree apprenticeship at Sunderland University, which allowed her to continue to work.

Documents from the tribunal showed that if Ms Thorpe had not been unfairly dismissed in 2020, she would have earned about £66,500 - including pension contributions - since the end of her employment.

Since her suspension, Ms Thorpe started an Instagram and YouTube profile called Slice of Jess, in which she posted lifestyle, food and clothing content, the papers showed.

Employment Judge Sweeney said he needed to consider whether the £46,400 she made since leaving her job should be taken into account as reducing her post-dismissal losses.

Papers showed Ms Thorpe told the hearing her social media activities were a hobby and compared them to people playing golf or horse riding.

Ms Thorpe also worked part-time as a community care assistant for about 14 months from August 2023, earning about £13,000.

The documents showed she had received a conditional offer of a job with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, but lost that opportunity when she could not provide them with documents requested.

This was because her previous employer failed to send her the appropriate papers, despite her requesting them several times and them having an obligation to do so.

The judge ruled Ms Thorpe's total losses should be considered to amount to about £19,700.

He said: "I am satisfied that [Ms Thorpe] would have continued to engage in some social media activities had she remained in employment with the [trust], albeit to a significantly reduced extent."

He added she was receiving a "good secondary income" by the time she left her employment as a nurse and it was "highly unlikely" that she would have given up on it.

In a video posted last week, Ms Thorpe said: "Five years to the day that I got sent home suspended - quite poetic.

"My shoulders have dropped, my jaw has unclenched, finally I'm free."

Lynne Shaw, executive director of workforce at the trust, said although it was disappointed of the outcome, the trust respects "the findings of the tribunal and will look at what lessons can be learned".

Follow BBC North East on X and Facebook and BBC Cumbria on X and Facebook and both on Nextdoor and Instagram.