HENK:NURSE ABUSED ‘POSITION OF POWER’ WHEN HE HAD AFFAIR WITH PATIENT
A psychiatric nurse abused his ‘position of power’ when he secretly dated a patient and took her on holiday, a hearing was told.
Jonathan Henk proposed to the woman, referred to as patient A, after taking her on a break to Majorca and let her move into his home, the Nursing and Midwifery Council has heard.
Their relationship is said to have lasted from March to August 2008, while Henk worked at the Halesview Mental Health Centre in Halesowen, West Midlands.
Their romance soured when she allegedly discovered he was cheating on her with another psychiatric patient being treated for depression.
Weeks later, Henk allegedly forced himself on patient A when she told him she was pregnant.
Henk is also accused of trying to bully the woman into dropping her complaint when she reported their fling to the Walsall Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust.
Giving evidence, Henk’s former manager Steven Jones said he was tipped off about the liaison in August 2008 by Patient A’s previous boyfriend.
He said: ‘Fundamentally as a professional, you don’t have a relationship with patients.
‘We’re dealing with people who are very vulnerable and we’re placed in a position of power and trust.’
‘She was referred to us through her GP because she wanted support with issues in her life,’ he said.
‘She was obviously struggling to manage her own anxieties and came to us for help and support.’
Mr Jones arranged to meet up with the woman who was being treated by Henk for panic attacks, a few days later.
She told him the nurse had proposed and at one stage even looked like he was going to hit her.
‘I believe it happened in the upstairs part of the house, but I’m not really clear on the details,’ he said.
‘She was very clear she wanted to talk about it to us, but it was obviously difficult for her. I think she felt wronged by what had happened.’
Cassandra Scarborough, for the NMC, has told the hearing how Patient A ‘felt pressured to have sex with Mr Henk’ throughout their affair.
She said: ‘On August 27, 2008, Mr Henk came to her house, she told him she was pregnant, and, upon hearing that news, he said he would stay for lunch.
‘Whilst they were on the sofa, he pulled Patient A to the floor and held her by the hands.
‘Patient A told him she was pregnant and he should leave her alone – he told her she should get an abortion, and then had sex with her without her consent.
‘Suffice to say her health deteriorated as a result of that incident.’
An internal NHS disciplinary inquiry, mounted in July that year, had to be abandoned after he voluntarily resigned his post.
Henk admits forming a sexual relationship with Patient A, which included taking her on holiday and letting her move in to his home, but he maintains that their exploits were always consensual.
He denies seeing her while she was his patient, that he tried to manipulate the inquiry into his conduct, and that he formed an inappropriate relationship with another patient.
If found guilty, he could be struck off from the nursing register.
The hearing continues.
ends
