Hawking's former nurse barred for misconducts

LONDON, March 13 (Xinhua) -- One of eminent theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking's former nurses was banned from practicing in the United Kingdom (UK) after regulators ruled her failings in his care.

The Tuesday ruling capped a six-week closed-door hearing in Stratford, east London.

According to UK's Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), registered nurse Patricia Dowdy, 61, from Ipswich, Suffolk, faced multiple misconduct charges including financial misconduct, dishonesty, not having the correct qualifications and failing "to provide the standards of good, professional care" for the late scientist.

Dowdy worked for Hawking for a total of eight years, from 1999 to 2004 and again from July 2013 until receiving an interim suspension in March 2016, local media reported.

Matthew McClelland, the director of fitness to practise at the NMC, said Dowdy would be barred from practicing as a nurse.

"As the public rightly expects, in serious cases such as this -- where a nurse has failed in their duty of care and has not been able to (provide) evidence to the panel that they have learned from their mistakes and (still) be fit to practise -- we will take action," he said.

Hawking died in March, 2018 at his home in Cambridge, aged 76. The world-renown scientist and author of A Brief History of Time was diagnosed with a motor neurone disease in 1963 at the age of 21.

Doctors had expected Hawking to live for only two more years. Hawking's longevity has stunned many medical experts.