Newham Hospital nurse struck off for 'sexual behaviour'

Wahad Issoop Lootfun, who worked at Newham Hospital, was accused of the sexualised touching of the woman’s thighs and upper body, asking intrusive personal questions, giving her his personal number, visiting her outside of work hours and asking her for a hug. 

The patient said he sent her photos of him on the beach and called her "babe”. 

She said: “This made me uncomfortable as I did not want someone who could be my grandfather messaging me like this.

"I did not like Mr Lootfun messaging me but I thought I should be polite so I occasionally replied to him, but mostly I ignored his messages.” 

Mr Lootfun has now been struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) which found his conduct was “sexually motivated in that you were in pursuit of a future relationship” with the woman. 

The patient said Mr Lootfun’s conduct was so distressing she could no longer seek hospital treatment and it had a lasting impact on her health. 

She refused to be taken to hospital by ambulance when she was advised to do so following further miscarriages and even felt she could not visit the hospital when her mum was ill. 

A misconduct report states: “Mr Lootfun's actions were not only unprofessional but also sexually motivated and aimed at pursuing a personal relationship with the woman. 

“This conduct represents a significant breach of the trust inherent in the nurse-patient relationship. 

“The panel recognised that patient A was in a particularly vulnerable state during her encounters with Mr Lootfun. 

“At the time, she was experiencing her first pregnancy, which had already transformed into a distressing situation due to being informed that her pregnancy was ectopic and therefore not viable.” 

The incidents took place in February and March 2019. 

Lootfun, who had called the accusations "baseless", was suspended from the hospital trust pending an investigation in March 2022. 

He later resigned from his role and was referred to the NMC.