A NIGHT nurse performed a sex act on a patient as he lay helpless in his bed at Charing Cross Hospital, a hearing was told this week.
Eddie Presquito is alleged to have removed the man's bed clothes and when challenged told him: "Shhh, be silent, you will disturb the other patients."
Presquito also washed the man's genitals with a wet wipe, the Nursing and Midwifery Council heard.
Laura Bayley, for the NMC, said: "On three occasions on a night shift the registrant attended to Patient X's bedside. On the first visit the registrant took Patient X's temperature, which appeared to be high, and then suggested to give him a wash to cool him down, which was at 2am.
"The registrant then proceeded to use a wet wipe to rub Patient X in the genital region. Patient X will give evidence that the registrant did not wash him anywhere else. This carried on for a few minutes before Patient X thought that it didn't seem right and asked the registrant to leave.
"Later in the morning the registrant returned to Patient X's bedside and opened his covers without saying anything."
Presquito then performed a sex act on the patient, said Mrs Bayley.
"Patient X told him to stop and the registrant's words were to the effect of, 'Be silent, you will disturb the other patients'.
Patient X, in his 20s, had been admitted for surgery at the hospital some five days before the incident on January 19 last year.
"Around about 3.30 in the morning the registrant again attended Patient X's bedside and tried to reach for his bed covers," Mrs Bayley added. "Patient X was very firm and immediately told the registrant to go away. It would appear some medical procedure was then carried out and the registrant left. It is the NMC's case that there was clear sexual motivation for the registrant's actions on that evening."
Presquito, who is not attending the hearing, is also accused of lying to his boss that he telephoned a workmate to check that Patient X's antibiotics had been given.
The nurse is also accused of failing to maintain professional boundaries by sending an email from his personal account in March 2012.
Presquito, of (61) Brewer Street in Soho, central London, denies all charges against him. If found guilty of the allegations he faces a permanent ban from the profession.
The hearing continues.
