AN under-fire nurse claimed he only held hands with a patient to stop her from self-harming, a hearing was told.

William Whittaker, 55, is said to have developed an ‘inappropriate relationship’ with the 25-year-old woman at Brierley Court Psychiatric Hospital, in Moston, Manchester.

He spent hours locked in a bedroom with the woman and was seen touching her face, brushing her hair, and stroking her leg, the Nursing and Midwifery Council has heard.

At a disciplinary meeting to discuss his ‘inappropriate’ behaviour with the woman, Whittaker claimed he was just trying to restrain her.

He told investigator Derek Mercer: “Unless she has someone with her very close she tries to hurt herself.

“I hold her hand on occasion when she has been distressed to restrain her. If I didn’t, she would be off.”

But Mr Mercer said during evidence he had personally seen the woman, known as Patient A, self-harm and holding her hand would not stop her.

He added it was not a form of restraint he had ever seen used on any other patients.

Whittaker, of Harwood Lane, Great Harwood, denies conducting an inappropriate relationship with Patient A between October 2005 and January 2006. If found guilty of misconduct, he could be struck off the nursing register.

The hearing continues.