A MALE nurse who assaulted elderly, mentally-ill patients at a Worcester care unit has been struck off indefinitely to protect the public.

Hugh John Tangye was found guilty of professional misconduct by the Nursing and Midwifery Council's professional conduct committee, sitting in central London yesterday.

The committee found, while working as a registered nurse at Worcester Christian Nursing Home on London Road in February 2000, Mr Tangye had twisted the arm of a patient in his 80s and allowed him to fall.

Carol Roberts, who was working as a carer under Mr Tangye at the time, told the committee she had been feeding another patient nearby when she had heard screams from the elderly man's room.

Ms Roberts said she looked inside the room to find Mr Tangye and the man, identified only as Patient A, shouting at each other.

When the patient raised his fists "in a boxing stance", Mr Tangye grabbed his left arm and twisted it behind his back, which caused the man to fall over.

"Mr Tangye got hold of Mr A by the arm, swung him around and just let him go," she said.

Ms Roberts said Patient A was yelling while he was on the floor, but Mr Tangye left the room without helping him up.

Afterwards the nurse told Ms Roberts that Patient A had attacked a female resident.

In a second incident, 48-year-old Mr Tangye, a registered nurse since 1977, was found pinning another mentally-ill man in his 70s against the wall by his throat and chest.

Sharon Burnett, another former colleague of Mr Tangye, said she discovered Mr Tangye in the corridor "against the wall with his arm across Patient B's throat".

"Patient B was going very red," she told the committee.

When asked about his actions, Mr Tangye was said to have told Ms Burnett: "He (Patient B) shouldn't be aggressive and attack people."

Mr Tangye, who was not present at the hearing and lives in Ludlow, Shropshire, was also found guilty of making an inappropriate sexual comment about a female patient in her late 70s.

Ms Burnett said that when another nursing home worker asked Mr Tangye whether Patient J was out of bed, he replied in a loud voice: "No, she's sleeping it off. She had a good sex session last night."

The care attendant said she was "flabbergasted" by the comment.

"I looked at both of them with my mouth wide open," she said.

Committee chairman Elizabeth Rush said the misconduct was of a serious nature and the committee had struck Mr Tangye off the register indefinitely for the sake of public safety.

"Zero tolerance (of such behaviour) is the only philosophy consistent with protection of the public," she said.

In a written submission to the committee Mr Tangye denied all charges and said he was a gentle man.

He left the Worcester unit days after the incidents, but before they were officially reported.