A nurse who worked in Shepton Mallet has been struck off after he cleared patients for surgery despite their blood pressure being too high.

David Piers Wynburne worked at the Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre, which is run for the NHS by private healthcare company Care UK.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found him guilty of a string of errors over a two-year period – including failure to record urine samples or blood tests, and not advising patients to stop taking medication.

In light of this poor conduct, Mr Wynburne has been struck off – meaning he can no longer practice as a nurse anywhere in the UK.

Care UK has said no patients were put at risk by Mr Wynburne's actions, and they had acted quickly to alert the appropriate authorities.

An NMC panel met in London to decide Mr Wynburne's fate on February 26.

He had been previously suspended by the NMC for nine months back in June 2017 – a suspension which was subsequently extended twice.

At a hearing in 2017, Mr Wynburne was found guilty of a slew of charges, all committed while working in the treatment centre's outpatient department between November 2013 and July 2015.

The charges included:

Assessing patients as being fit for surgery when their blood pressure was too high

Failing to record whether urine samples had been taken

Failing to record or undertake blood tests on several patients

Failing to refer a patient to their GP over hypertension

Advising a patient on warfarin to stop taking it for seven days instead of four

Failing to advise patients to stop taking medication they no longer needed

Failure to ensure a patient had an electrocardiogram, or to record its results

Failure to inform the ward when a patient needed to stay overnight

Failure to accurately record the results of an MRSA swab

Failure to carry out the recommended numbers of pre-surgery assessments for 22 weeks between June 2014 and July 2015

Mr Wynburne did not attend the hearing in London in person and was not represented.

In a letter to the NMC sent before the hearing, he stated: "I have no intention to work as a nurse again.

"I have had to endure the appalling stress of protracted and debilitating NMC review procedures for five years.

"It has brought my nearly 40-year career as a caring and dedicated nurse to a sad end. It has almost destroyed me and I wish it to stop."

In striking him off, the panel ruled Mr Wynburne's "fitness to practice" as a nurse was "impaired by a lack of competence".

It further ruled that allowing Mr Wynburne to return to any form of practice "would place patients at risk of harm and bring the nursing profession into disrepute".

Care UK – which is based in Colchester – said it had taken every step to ensure patients' safety when Mr Wynburne's actions first came to light.

A spokesman said: "Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre is rated as outstanding by the Care Quality Commission in all areas, a reflection of the quality of care provided to patients.

"Our robust monitoring processes identified issues with this nurse's work. Every possible step was taken during the investigation to ensure that patients' treatment was safe and effective.

"These processes are still in use today to ensure that our nurses are fit to practice and that our patients receive the highest standards of care.

"In 2015 we took the decision to dismiss this nurse and refer them to the NMC. The nurse has not worked at Shepton Mallet NHS Treatment Centre since then.

"After five years the NMC has now concluded that the nurse's fitness to practice remains impaired and he has been removed from its register.

"We can assure all our patients that excellent, safe care and an outstanding patient experience sit at the heart of everything we do."