Berkshire paramedic who said patient was 'beautiful' struck off

A paramedic found to have told a patient that she was "beautiful" and that he would take her to bed has been struck off.

Iain Gallacher, who worked for South Central Ambulance Service (SCAS), had "no concept of appropriate professional behaviour", a panel found.

One colleague said his behaviour had made her feel "scared, unsafe and vulnerable".

Mr Gallacher worked for SCAS from 2015 until his dismissal in 2021.

He was suspended from his job and later sacked after a woman, who had been working at a Berkshire hospital's accident and emergency department, reported that he had touched her on either side of her upper torso in March 2021.

She also recognised him as a person who had touched her bottom in late 2020.

She said she had no relationship with him. The Health and Care Professionals Tribunals Service (HCPTS) panel concluded his actions "could have no explanation other than sexual motivation".

It found that Mr Gallacher had told a woman she was "beautiful" and he would "still take [her] to bed" after she suffered an injury to her leg in 2015.

She was upset about potentially having a cast on her leg at her daughter's forthcoming wedding.

Colleagues reported that they "looked at one another in disbelief" at his remark, and the patient became "less talkative". She did not register a complaint.

Earlier in his employment between May and October 2015, he was found to have told a colleague that she should "break up with her boyfriend" and marry him instead.

Later, the panel found he had told her that he was still attracted to her and kissed her on the cheek.

The HCPTS panel said "the only appropriate sanction" available was that he was removed from its register.

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