A NURSE who bombarded a young female colleague with late night texts has been suspended.

Hugh Nicholas also breached professional boundaries by making “inappropriate” comments about the young nurse’s appearance on Facebook, an inquiry was told.

The newly qualified nurse said the social media posts made her feel uncomfortable as he was, “an older man.”

She said the texts started out as work-related but gradually strayed into other territories and increased in number, late at night, when she was in bed.

She told an inquiry that if he didn’t answer within 10 to 15 minutes, he would text her again.

The nurse said the texts had started to affect her relationship with her boyfriend.

She reported Mr Nicholas to bosses, after which the nurse’s inappropriate behaviour stopped.

An inquiry by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) found Mr Nicholas, a senior mental health nurse, also made care errors including failing to carry out assessments of patients in his care.

The incidents arose whilst Mr Nicholas was employed by NHS Lanarkshire as a community mental health nurse at Lanark Health Centre.

The nurse also breached data protection by leaving “identifiable information” about patients in an unlocked drawer.

Passwords for mental health patient records were also left unsecured on top of his computer.

Mr Nicholas was suspended by the health board on May 8 2015 and has now been hit with a 12-month suspension by the NMC.

The NMC said: “The panel concluded that a suspension order for the maximum period of 12 months was necessary to mark the seriousness of Mr Nicholas’ misconduct which amounted to serious failings in the discharge of his duties as a senior mental health nurse and the importance of maintaining public confidence in the profession.

“A period of 12 months would also afford Mr Nicholas the opportunity to reflect on his misconduct and its potential consequences. Moreover, it would send to the public and the profession a clear message about the standards of conduct and behaviour expected of a registered nurse.”

At the end of the period of suspension another panel will review the order.