THIS paper has heard a lot about "zero tolerance" over the years since use of the phrase became commonplace.

It is a form of words often used without much thought and has, through this misuse, become tarnished.

However, its use in this paper's front page story today will bring readers back into the real world - a world where people given trust, in this case a care home nurse, exploit and abuse this trust.

The nurse involved in these incidents was yesterday struck off the register - found guilty of serious professional misconduct.

And there can be no more serious misconduct by a nurse than that of mistreating and abusing those in their care - the patients themselves.

In this case it was residents of the Topaz Unit, Worcester Christian Nursing Home.

The scandal was the subject of an Evening News expos in July 2,000, after the initial complaints came to the paper's attention.

It is to the credit of the Nursing and Midwifery Council that they have taken this action.

But it has to be said that it has taken some considerable time to sort out.

The facts of the story are clear. The witness statements look unambiguous. There appears to be no doubt about what happened.

In her summing-up the committee chairman said that they had struck the nurse off the register "indefinitely" for the sake of public safety. "Zero tolerance of such behaviour...consistent with protection of the public".

But this paper wonders if that is what the tribunal wanted, then they should have acted a bit quicker.

Over two years is a long time to wait for a bit of zero tolerance.