Bullying Midwife Abandoned Shift Visit Local S*x Shop

The Nursing and Midwifery Council's misconduct panel heard from two witnesses on Wednesday, who outlined their allegations of bullying and the inappropriate behaviour they experienced while working alongside Johnson.

According to report, 'bullying' midwife abandoned his shift as ward coordinator to visit a local sex shop to buy poppers, a misconduct hearing was told. 

Paul Johnson is facing 29 allegations of misconduct that cover his time as a senior and central member of staff at Hull Women and Children's Hospital. 

He is alleged to have bullied and made sexual remarks to colleagues, while he is also alleged to have taken pictures of two women having Caesarean sections without their permission. 

One of the witnesses, known only as Witness Three, told the hearing how Johnson had gloated about leaving a shift to visit sex shop Pulse and Cocktails to buy poppers. 

She said: "In the end I think it was about 18 minutes that he was gone. He'd gone to buy poppers in there, he used them for his sexual pleasure. 

"He told me that he was going on holiday soon and wanted to take some poppers with him and this was his only chance to go." 

Witness Three, who was also in a relationship with Johnson, told the hearing that this wasn't the only time that Johnson has abandoned his duties to undertake inappropriate activities and said he was well known within the hospital for disappearing when needed. 

Such was the reputation that Johnson had been dubbed the "Scarlet Pimpernel" due to his habit of disappearing while on shift. 

Witness Three told the hearing that during one instance she had visited the hospital on a day off to drop off a Starbucks coffee for Johnson who was working. 

She says he stepped into the car and the pair chatted for around 30 minutes before he left to return to work. 

Johnson had been employed by Hull University Hospitals Trust since 2002 and was a senior member of staff within the maternity ward, with responsibility for managing and coordinating the labour ward before his 18 month suspension. 

During the hearing last week, chair Derek McFaul detailed the 29 charges against Johnson – including poor management and decision-making shown "by making excuses not to transfer patients to the labour ward". 

Alleged photos of two women taken during a Caesarean section in a Hull hospital without their permission are said to have been sent to another colleague who Johnson was in a relationship with at the time.