A nurse who tied a patient to a wheelchair with a bedsheet and put a plastic bag over their head has been banned from the profession, a misconduct hearing heard. Matthew Quinn, who registered in 2008, was found to be impaired by the Nursing and Midwifery Council after a tribunal held in December last year. Conditions were first imposed on Mr Quinn in 2020, but he had voluntarily stopped working ahead of the latest hearing.
The tribunal heard things first went wrong in February 2018 when he shouted at paramedics, saying words to the effect of ‘These bloody LAS [London Ambulance Service] crews’, and also complained loudly about a distressed member of a patient’s family. He also stated to a junior colleague on the telephone ‘I can’t understand a word you are saying’ or words to that effect before hanging up’
Mr Quinn also hung up the phone on a colleague, failed to attend a handover meeting without good reason, unnecessarily demanded another colleague return early from a break, and interrupted and failed to act on advice from another colleague.
The most serious offences, however, came in August 2018, when Mr Quinn tied a patient to a wheelchair using a sheet, put a bed pan liner under their neck, and covered their head with a clinical waste bag. The NMC wrote: “In light of the above, your fitness to practise is impaired by reason of your misconduct.”
Mr Quinn was first put under a ‘conditional’ order requiring him to improve his behaviour. But a May 2025 review stuck him off from the nursing register after determining that he had “not provided evidence of any insight, training, reflection or remediation”.
It added: “There is no evidence that Mr Quinn obtained greater insight, strengthened his practice, or accepted responsibility for the seriousness of his misconduct. The panel determined that the only sanction which would adequately protect the public and serve the public interest is a striking-off order.”
Got a tip, a court date, or some gossip? Please email [email protected] or WhatsApp 07580255582.
Don’t miss out on the latest crime stories from across London. Sign up to MyLondon’s Court & Crime newsletter HERE.
