MALE nurses who look after mentally handicapped women have been banned from caring for them during the night after a patient alleged she was sexually assaulted.

The Preston-based Guild Community Healthcare NHS Trust - which cares for many former patients of Calderstones Hospital in Whalley - has also stopped male members of staff from providing intimate care to women patients, including washing and bathing.

The mandate from managers is believed to have followed an incident where a patient was allegedly sexually assaulted by a male nurse.

But health trust workers now claim there is a shortage of women staff to conduct sleepovers at the trust's residential learning disability homes, the majority of which are provided in housing association properties.

Patients formerly housed at Calderstones are among the people who are cared for in the community homes.

Each house contains a mix of men and women patients, and workers now claim there is a shortage of female staff to conduct sleepovers.

In a letter to the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, one male member of the learning disability services said: "At the beginning of December all the male staff within the learning disabilities service were instructed by the line managers of the homes that they had received directives from the Learning Disabilities Manager that male staff were not allowed to do any more sleepovers.

"In addition, no male member of staff was to be left alone with a female client or to assist the female clients in any personal needs area (bathing, dressing, shopping etc).

"This new directive led to complete bedlam and chaos within the service, more so at mixed sex houses."

He claims BUPA nurse agency staff, who are "untrained" to cope with the type of patients, have been drafted in to plug the female staff shortage.

Detective Inspector Dave Armer, from Lancashire Police's Major Crime Unit, said: "We investigated an allegation of sexual assault and an advice file was sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

"They suggested that no further action should be taken from a criminal proceedings point of view."

The Guild Community Healthcare Trust said it would be "inappropriate" to comment on any incident of alleged sexual assault. But in a statement, it said: "The logistics of putting clients' needs first means that in residential homes where clients are both male and female, sleepovers are provided by female staff to accommodate the personal care needs of female clients.

"In the NHS as a whole, a significant majority of nurses are female and it is therefore custom and practice for females to nurse/provide care to male clients.

"Provision of personal intimate care for female clients is provided by female staff, in accordance with recognising that patients with a learning disability have an equal right to privacy and dignity as the rest of the population.

"The staff available during the night are available to assist clients with emergencies and any personal care needs."

Tony Clark, senior regional officer for Unison, said he was aware of the alleged assault.

But he said he supported the change in policy surrounding sleepovers.

Mr Clark added: "This should have been the situation in the first instance."

Last year the Guild trust was thrown into chaos after three non-executive directors were sacked. The trust had been heavily criticised after patients released from its medium secure unit went on to commit serious crimes.

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