A NURSE who risked allowing a patient to hang himself with a guitar string has been thrown out of the profession.

Christine O'Meara left the suicidal man alone with the instrument in breach of guidelines.

He had previously tried to kill himself by strangulation and driving into a brick wall.

O'Meara handed him the guitar while he was on suicide watch at the Guild Lodge Care Home, near Longridge.

A string of charges against her were found proved at a Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing in central London. Panel chair Stephen Redmond said there was no alternative but to strike her off the nursing register.

He said: “The panel considers that striking off is the only sanction which will be sufficient for the protection of the public and the public interest.

“Although Ms O'Meara is a caring person who wanted to care for the patient, she failed to follow procedures and protocols which would protect him. The panel concluded that Ms O'Meara acted in a manner which put her patients at risk of potential harm.

“There was no evidence to suggest Ms O'Meara had full insight into and in fact remedied her failings.

“The panel thus concludes that Ms O'Meara's behaviour is incompatible with continuing membership of the nursing profession and that a striking off order is the only appropriate and proportionate sanction.'

Manager Alison Makinson saw O'Meara hand over the guitar to the patient on May 7, 2010.

O'Meara was also found to have visited a patient after they were discharged to deliver drugs without properly reporting it.

She was cleared of a further charge of failing to give another patient a relaxation CD and anxiety management advice.