Hospitals investigate rapist nurse allowed to work for more than a year after arrest

The Independent told trusts about conviction of John Iwuh

- REBECCA THOMAS HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

Iwuh was jailed in July after being found guilty of rape and voyeurism (Photos Metropolitan Police) A rapist nurse was able to work freely for more than a year while under investigation because the UK’s scandal-hit nursing regulator failed to suspend him when police made officials aware of the allegations against him, The Independent can reveal.

John Chukwunonso Iwuh, 54, of South Norwood, Croydon, used his job as a psychiatric nurse to gain the trust of his victim, whom he had met on a dating app, before luring her to his home and raping her after she rejected his advances in June 2022.

He was jailed on 11 July this year for 16 years after being found guilty of rape and voyeurism. The Metropolitan Police have now urged other potential victims to come forward after officers found almost 11,000 contacts on his phone - around 60 per cent of which were saved in the format of a woman’s name and the name of a dating app.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), which regulates more than 800,000 nurses and midwives in the UK, has admitted that it did not act quickly enough to suspend Iwuh after it was told of the allegations. Now, two hospital trusts where he worked have launched inquiries of their own after The Independent made them aware of his conviction.

The news follows a series of exposés by The Independent, which revealed whistleblower concerns that a “toxic” culture at the NMC had allowed rogue nurses, including some accused of sexual assault, to practise unchecked.

Failing to act quickly

The Met first contacted the NMC in September 2022 to make it aware of its investigation into Iwuh following his arrest in June 2022. But the regulator took no action, and Iwuh was free to continue working as a nurse without restriction.