Bullying NHS nurse who told colleague ‘I could destroy you’ struck from register

Bullying NHS nurse who told colleague ‘I could destroy you’ struck from register Elaine Sullivan fostered a ‘toxic and hostile’ work environment - Bookmark A senior nurse has been removed from the professional register after she subjected 13 NHS colleagues to bullying, threatening one with the chilling warning: "I could destroy you at any point." Elaine Sullivan, who was described as "intimidating", left fellow nurses feeling humiliated by ordering one to "turn their volume down" and declaring, "you have no capacity to speak to me". The Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Team nurse fostered a "toxic and hostile" work environment, a tribunal heard, and once told a colleague she would "never let you work with clients again." Further misconduct included Ms Sullivan falsely identifying herself as the "clinical lead" at the unit on a court report, which subsequently led to a child being removed from their mother based on her recommendation. She also engaged in "gossip" by revealing private information about colleagues, such as claims they were "abused as a child" or had a "history of heroin abuse". Following a Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) tribunal, Ms Sullivan’s name was formally struck from the register. At the time of the complaints, she was employed as a Band 8a nurse and therapist within the Perinatal and Infant Mental Health Team for the Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust. A referral was made to the NMC in August 2020 by the trust's deputy director after numerous complaints regarding her conduct emerged. Ms Sullivan admitted all the charges brought against her. The hearing heard that 13 different colleagues had complained about her behaviour over a period of 10 months. It was found that she had been "dishonest" when, in 2019, she wrote on a court report that she was the "clinical lead" within the Parent Infant Mental Health Attachment Team. This led to a child being removed from her mother on Ms Sullivan’s recommendation. Colleagues gave evidence to say that on multiple occasions Ms Sullivan had told people on the unit that she was the clinical lead. She also "acted outside the scope of competence" when she diagnosed a patient, who cannot be named for legal reasons, with dissociative identity disorder. The hearing was told that Ms Sullivan made an "intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment" for her colleagues by making a series of comments and "bullying" them. Read more: NHS trust issues apology after culture report highlights bullying concerns She told one colleague, who cannot be named for legal reasons, that they were "too much" and they should "turn their volume down". Ms Sullivan told another colleague "I could destroy you at any point" and that "you have no capacity to speak to me". She was also found to have breached confidentiality by disclosing private information about her fellow colleagues. She told a colleague that another colleague made a "bullying complaint" and was "unhinged and threw a book at me". She said that one colleague was a "lesbian" and another was a "foster child". The panel ruled that her behaviour amounted to "bullying" and serious misconduct. Fiona Abbott, chair of the panel, said: "The panel determined that Ms Sullivan’s actions would be considered deplorable by fellow practitioners in the context of a professional nursing environment. "Her misconduct was repeated on a number of occasions involving 13 different colleagues and had been sustained over a period of some ten months (the charges cover the period from March 2019 to December 2019). "The panel determined that this makes Ms Sullivan’s misconduct particularly serious and indicative of an attitudinal issue. "The panel noted that in its Statement of Case the NMC referred to Ms Sullivan’s conduct towards her colleagues as ‘bullying’. Ms Sullivan has not been charged with ‘bullying’. "However, the panel concluded that her behaviour was tantamount to bullying. "The panel was of the view that Ms Sullivan’s behaviour and actions contributed to a toxic, hostile and mistrusting workplace where everyone was watching their backs, talking about each other and unsure whether their confidentiality was being upheld. "The panel determined that Ms Sullivan had caused harm. "Not only did many of her colleagues confirm that they suffered emotional distress and harm, but in addition, a child was removed from their mother as a consequence of the report prepared by Ms Sullivan in which she falsely claimed that she was the ‘clinical lead’, misleading others that she held the authority in such a role and acted outside of her scope of practice. "Furthermore, another patient was given the wrong diagnosis." Reflecting on her actions, Ms Sullivan said: "I also think that it took me a long time to be able to process and think about my actions because of how ashamed I was. "My breaking of colleagues’ confidentiality is something I feel most ashamed of and, more distressingly, I don’t have a clear answer as to why I did this. "I am deeply ashamed of this, especially as it took me some time after my dismissal to really understand the ways I had been unprofessional and the very distressing impact it had on colleagues. "I am very sorry for this, and whilst I hope I have offered contributing factors, this is not an excuse, and I believe I should be removed from the NMC register. "When I think with a therapist’s hat on about how I might have made sense of why someone would suddenly gossip and share colleagues’ information after never having done so before, I would assume that they wanted to feel important or special or powerful. "I don’t remember consciously breaking people’s confidence but I do remember this being a time of feeling worthless, overwhelmed and broken and so to my deepest regret this is my best understanding of my shameful behaviour."