Nurse 'sacked over church advice'

A nurse who says he was sacked for suggesting patients could become less stressed if they went to church could take action against the NHS trust.

Anand Rao said he made the comments to a woman in a training exercise and was suspended by University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust after a complaint.

He was dismissed after a disciplinary hearing. The Christian Legal Centre said it was considering legal action.

A trust spokesman said Mr Rao, 71, had "continuously" breached guidelines.

Mr Rao said that in the training exercise the woman had been playing the part of a patient with a life-threatening heart condition.

(Mr Rao) showed little regard for the standards of care and professionalism that is expected of him as a nurse Kate Bradley University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust

He said he told her she should go to church to alleviate stress.

Christian Legal Centre (CLC) director Andrea Minichiello Williams said the centre was now representing Mr Rao and was considering legal action against his former employer.

She said: "How is it possible that a nurse who has served the public for 40 years should find himself dismissed because in a training exercise he advised someone to go to church?

"To seek to censor and suppress this kind of language and belief is the fruits of a closed society."

Kate Bradley, from the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said Mr Rao's contract was formally terminated in February after he failed to attend two disciplinary hearings.

She said: "Caring at its best is our motto, and it is important that every member of our staff, permanent or otherwise, deliver the best care possible to all of our patients regardless of their personal beliefs or lifestyle choices.

"The incident which led to the launch of the investigation was unfortunately not the first. Since joining us in 2005 Mr Rao had continuously shown a disregard for the Nursing and Midwifery's code of conduct, which he had breached on more than one occasion.

"Mr Rao was given every opportunity to assure us that this would not happen again, but he was unable to do so and showed little regard for the standards of care and professionalism that is expected of him as a nurse."

She added that Mr Rao was "welcome" to follow the trust's formal appeals process.