A NURSE who sexually assaulted patients has been suspended for three-and-a-half months.

Sex offender Ian Wingrove groped male patients at a clinic in London.

After resigning he came to work at Colchester General Hospital, and continued working at the Turner Road site for 18 months while banned from everywhere else.

It is claimed, despite being under investigation, he was still promoted twice.

Wingrove, who was jailed for two years in June following a trial at Southwark Crown Court, was the subject of a Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing on Monday.

He was given an interim suspension order until December 8 banning him from practice.

A further hearing is expected to be scheduled, where he may be struck off, later this year.

Wingrove, 32, of Thomas Way, Braintree, abused two men for sexual pleasure in December 2013 and July 2014.

He resigned from the trust and came back to the Colchester hospital in November 2014.

The following month a conditions of practice order was imposed on Wingrove while the allegations were investigated.

He was banned from working for any trust but north Essex under some supervision.

He was allowed to continue carrying out “intimate physical examination” of patients although did have to be supervised. He was banned from working in a “sexual health” environment.

He was dismissed from the trust after being jailed.

A spokesman for the trust said: “He has since been dismissed. The allegations were not made until after he had started his second period of employment in Colchester. He made us aware of them immediately. He consistently and strongly denied the allegations.”

He is now banned from all trusts.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council were asked why a nurse accused of sexually abusing patients is not suspended automatically, albeit on full pay and without prejudice, while allegations are investigated and why the safety of patients is not a determining factor.

A spokesman for the council said: "Each case is assessed based on its allegations and evidence.

"The decision as to whether to impose an interim order that restricts or suspends a nurse from practising is made by an independent panel on the evidence before them.

"Our statutory duty is to investigate any allegations made against a nurse or midwife’s fitness to practise.

"The decision regarding a nurse’s employment contract at any Trust is made by the employer."

The spokesman said the decision to allow him to remain working at the hospital while under investigation was made by Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust.