Alfred hospital nurse Christopher Welsh avoids suspension for lewd Facebook chat with patient
A former Alfred hospital nurse, who sent “sexually explicit” Facebook messages to a transgender patient, has avoided suspension because he is needed on the “front line” of the COVID-19 pandemic battle.
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A former nurse at The Alfred who engaged in a “sexually explicit” Facebook conversation with a vulnerable patient has avoided suspension.
Christopher Welsh was reprimanded by a Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal panel last Thursday after it was determined he committed professional misconduct.
Welsh, who now works at Werribee’s Mercy Hospital, messaged the then 19-year-old man who had been a patient under his care in late 2017.
The tribunal panel were shown screenshots the sexually explicit conversation which suggested Welsh had “some sexual interest” in the patient.
The messages also revealed Welsh had “come to know a lot about” the patient during his hospital admission.
Other more serious allegations levelled by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia against Welsh could not be proven.
These allegations included Welsh making lewd comments to the patient while he was still at the emergency department.
It was also alleged Welsh commented on the man’s prosthetic penis and asked whether it could be used in “sex play”.
The tribunal heard the transgender patient presented to the hospital in “acute crisis”.
Witnesses said the patient acted “bizarrely” on arrival including waving his “prothesis around”.
The nursing board — which wanted Welsh suspended — relied on the “power imbalance” between he and the “mentally ill” patient.
In his defence, Welsh said the “graphic and sexualised nature” of the conversation was “not uncommon” within the gay and lesbian “milieu”.
“While Mr Welsh has shown a level of insight, the attempt to ‘normalise’ the conduct in terms of the GLBTIQ community indicates a failure to reflect adequately on the vulnerability of (the patient) and the impact that his conduct has and may continue to have (the patient),” tribunal member Reynah Tang said on behalf of the panel.
In a statement, the patient said Welsh was the first health practitioner that “properly acknowledged my gender” but “he ultimately did so in a way which was sexualised and inappropriate”.
“My interaction with him aggravated trust issues from which I was already suffering,” the patient said.
“I have subsequently found it difficult to trust hospitals and healthcare providers.”
Counsel for Welsh submitted there was “community value in having Mr Welsh on the front line” and “suspension would be operative when Mr Welsh is needed most”.
The tribunal accepted Welsh was needed to help with the coronavirus pandemic.
Welsh’s good behaviour since the incident was also taken into account.
Welsh, who is also an SES volunteer, was reprimanded with education and mentoring conditions imposed on his registration for 14 months.
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