The Herald
AYR, Scotland — A paramedic who was sacked after locking a patient in her ambulance has been allowed to carry on working.
Julie Hose was on duty with fellow emergency worker Robert Kidd when they held drunk patient Mary Bennett in the vehicle against her will as they waited for police back-up.
Bennett was being taken to Ayr Hospital after falling from a window when she went on a violent rampage in the ambulance.
She ripped out chunks of Miss Hose s hair and damaged the paramedic s thumb during the incident in August 2010.
The ambulance arrived at the hospital before the police and Miss Hose, 37, locked 43-year-old Bennett in the back of the ambulance for 17 minutes while they waited for the officers to arrive.
Ambulance technician Mr Kidd, 51, then filmed part of the incident on his mobile phone.
Both ambulance workers were subsequently sacked for holding Bennett against her will, and both later lost their appeals against the decision by the Scottish Ambulance Service.
Bennett was jailed for 163 days in October 2010.
Now Miss Hose, from Dalmellington, Ayrshire, has been allowed to carry on working as a paramedic after a Health Professions Council disciplinary hearing decided not to ban her from the profession.
The panel instead issued a five-year caution order against her, and said: This sanction provides the necessary deterrent effect and will encourage Miss Hose to maintain high professional standards in the future.
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