Mental Health Nurse Stripped of His Right to Practise

A mental health nurse who sexually exploited two "extremely vulnerable" patients has been stripped of his right to practise because of serious professional misconduct described as a gross violation of trust

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One of the women, who was admitted to the mental health unit at Joondalup Health Campus in 2012 with increasing depression and overwhelming feelings of despair and fear, yesterday described the consequences of former nurse Timothy Buckby's behaviour as devastating.
"I went in there to get help but I came out worse than when I went in," the woman, whose name is suppressed, said.
She no longer felt comfortable in her own home, where Mr Buckby repeatedly telephoned and visited after she was discharged from hospital."I don't even feel like I can live a normal life," she said."Since the incident, my psychiatrist has found me permanently disabled from work."


In disciplinary action in the State Administrative Tribunal, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia alleged Mr Buckby had "sexual relationships" with the two women.

Mr Buckby denied the allegations but his lawyers withdrew from his case and he failed to turn up to a hearing last month.At the hearing, the woman who spoke to The West Australian said she begged Mr Buckby to stop during one incident in her hospital room but he had sex with her.

She said during other incidents, he had threatened that she would get into trouble and didn't want to "get locked inside" and that her son could be taken away.

The second patient, whose name is also suppressed, told the tribunal Mr Buckby kissed and cuddled her before she disclosed the incidents to a psychologist.
In a decision published this week, the tribunal said it accepted the women's evidence as honest and accurate.

It also concluded neither woman, who were both vulnerable and lonely, could in any meaningful sense consent to a relationship with Mr Buckby, who was in a position of authority."The power imbalance between them was simply too great," the tribunal said.

But the tribunal said the board had not alleged sexual assault and its professional misconduct allegation did not reflect the seriousness of the facts as alleged.
Mr Buckby was absent, so the tribunal could only assess the allegations as made by the board.

The tribunal, which cancelled Mr Buckby's registration and banned him from applying to re-register for seven years, found there was a clear need to protect the public.