Nurse who groped colleague's bum is struck off

Bekithemba Khumalo had been suspended since May 2016 over his actions while working as an agency nurse at Myford House Nursing Home in Telford.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council review panel has now imposed the striking off order after deciding that Khumalo had "still not provided any purposeful evidence of reflection or remediation" over his actions.

The panel concluded that Khumalo had been given three opportunities to provide the evidence, but had failed to do so.

The offences took place in 2013.

A judgement from the panel says: "The panel noted that Mr Khumalo has expressed a wish to return to nursing.

"However, the panel was also mindful that he has been subject to a suspension order for almost two years and yet has still not provided any purposeful evidence of reflection or remediation.

"Three consecutive panels have requested that he provide, amongst other things, a written reflective piece, evidence of actions and learning and professional references and yet Mr Khumalo has not done so."

Khumalo was said to have grabbed the female member of staff's buttocks, had blocked her path in hallways, and accosted her on the stairs.

A previous hearing also heard that he had sent her a series of unwanted WhatsApp messages at all times of the night, asking her to meet him or go for a drink.

The member of staff, referred to as Colleague A, told the previous hearing how the unwanted attention began in the summer of 2013.

Colleague A said she was friendly to Khumalo as he was agency staff and it was a very busy working environment so she wanted him to feel welcome.

"I don't know if he took it to mean something else," said Colleague A.

At first he approached her respectfully but then his attitude towards her changed.

"If I was walking down to lunch on my own I would walk past and he would grope me on the bum," said Colleague A.

"If I was walking down to the stairs he would push his trolley across and block the doors so I could not get past."

He began to text her but Colleague A told the hearing she had never given him her number and he took it from staff files.

Khumalo asked her to go for drinks or said they could meet up or he could come to her house, the hearing was told.

"He had my number but all the work colleagues had it, it is in the same file as the rota," said Colleague A.

She said other than texting "Who is this?" to the first message she never responded.

She said she either deleted the messages straight away or just did not reply.

"The messages just kept coming," said Colleague A.

"I would wake up to messages, he would text at 12am, 3am or 5am."

Colleague A told a colleague what was happening and it was referred to management, the hearing was told.

The striking off order will come into force on April 3 when the existing suspension order expires.