Alison was in the “care” of the NHS in Carlisle as an inpatient and outpatient for over a year. Unknown to us she was being groomed and taken advantage of by an older male nurse called Robert Scott-Buccleuch. As a result of this Alison endured a crisis pregnancy and on the 12th of August 1988, she had a hastily arranged abortion in Carlisle Hospital. Dr Singh, the Consultant Psychiatrist treating Alison, signed off the abortion that helped Scott-Buccleuch cover up what he had done.

Already mentally ill and seriously conflicted, Alison emerged from the hospital in Carlisle more damaged and confused than when she had first been admitted.

On Friday, December 13th, 1991, around the anniversary of the expected birthdate of her aborted baby, a trigger point for people with pre-existing mental illness, Alison removed her coat, placed her handbag on the platform, and stepped in front a train at Rotherham Station. She had been used to gratify the desires of a man who had cast her aside when things became complicated. She was ill-equipped to deal with the aftermath of what she had been through.

Alison was 21 when admitted to hospital in 1987. Deeply troubled and mentally ill, she found herself in a Victorian Style Asylum when Mental Health was taboo. Alone and vulnerable, she was groomed by a 35yr old nurse called Robert Scott-Buccleuch. Having sex with mental health patients on hospital premises is not just unlawful it is an abuse of trust that flies in the face of all available guidance. Records show Scott-Buccleuch was told what he was doing was wrong because Alison was so unwell; he continued regardless.

No one can think it ok for NHS nurses to have sex with the patients they are supposed to be caring for. For vulnerable patients to be the subject of a nurse’s attentions is the stuff of nightmares; like fish in a barrel at the mercy of the unscrupulous. I often wonder where senior managers were, while staff were having sex on hospital premises with young patients? What happened to the duty of care they had?

We buried Alison on a bitterly cold, dark, and unforgiving Christmas Eve. We could not see her body before the funeral, her injuries were so severe. When Alison stepped in front a train, the nurse who took advantage of her, the staff, and managers who turned a blind eye, all had their hands on her shoulders guiding her into its path. There are reasons for the boundaries that exist in healthcare. The consequences of crossing them can be disastrous and the impact on those left behind lasts a lifetime.

So what happened next?