Nurse fairly sacked for offering Bible to patient

Sarah Kuteh was sacked from her job as a nurse at Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford, after offering a patient her Bible and encouraging him to sing The Lord is My Shepherd.

Ms Kuteh was dismissed after breaching the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) rules by repeatedly discussing her faith with patients. She was said to have told a bowel cancer patient that, "if he prayed to God he would have a better chance of survival". Additionally a further patient commented that the nurse, "spent more time talking about religion than doing the assessment". 

Mention was made, in the Court papers, that a patient, in June 2016, complained about her conduct and likened the conduct to a "Monty Python" skit where the patient was encouraged to sing Psalm 23 with her.  

Disputing the original decision to dismiss her, she pursued her claim for unfair dismissal to the Court of Appeal. The court rejected her claim and stated that the decision of Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust was fair. 

The court heard that Ms Kuteh had given assurances to her supervising matron that she would not initiate conversations regarding her religious beliefs. This was considered reasonable, and yet the nurse continued to do so in spite of her assurances. 

Ms Kuteh is currently in discussions with her legal team, The Christian Legal Centre, with respect to her next step.

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