Chester Chronicle
FLINTSHIRE, Wales — A Flintshire paramedic who allegedly slapped a 69-year-old patient in the face three times was not unfairly dismissed, a tribunal has ruled.
Gareth Lewis, who was based in Queensferry and had worked for the Welsh Ambulance Service for 10 years, was sacked in October last year after a colleague reported him to bosses for slapping the woman as she lay on her bedroom floor.
Mr Lewis claimed he had merely tapped her three times with his fingers, which was a recognised technique in the RAF in which he had served, and he believed it was the least invasive method of assessing her level of consciousness.
But a disciplinary panel ruled it was tantamount to assault, which constituted gross misconduct, a decision which was upheld at an internal appeal.
At an employment tribunal Mr Lewis, who lives in Parkside Road, Wirral, claimed unfair dismissal and argued that while some other sanction against him might be justified he was dealt with far more severely than others in the service who had breached guidelines and policies.
He said that fellow paramedic Nancy Holmwood, who reported him, had a grudge against him because he had objected to a children’s party being held in the ambulance station.
Ms Holmwood and the woman’s daughter said they heard the slaps from the next room even though the door was closed and the patient herself, who opened her eyes after the third slap, said Mr Lewis had given her ‘an almighty slap’.
Mr Lewis, who submitted 14 letters of thanks received from patients during his final 12 months, told the hearing: “It was the first and only time I have used that method and, on reflection, it is not a method I will use in future.”
Copyright 2012 MGN Limited
All Rights Reserved