NHS nurse who offered a Bible to a cancer patient and encouraged him to sing The Lord is My Shepherd LOSES appeal after tribunal ruled she was 'rightly sacked for religious fervour'

Sarah Kuteh, 50, from Sierra Leone worked as an NHS nurse for 15 years. She was fired from Darent Valley Hospital in Kent for giving a patient a Bible following several other complaints

A court has ruled the termination of her employment was ‘fair’ after learning a patient likened her religious fervour to a ‘Monty Python skit

‘Sarah Kuteh was fired from her job at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, in 2016 for repeatedly talking to patients about her faith

A nurse who was sacked from the NHS after offering a bible to a cancer patient and encouraged him to sing The Lord is My Shepherd was fairly dismissed, a court has ruled.

Sarah Kuteh was fired from her job at Darent Valley Hospital in Dartford, Kent, in 2016 for repeatedly talking to patients about her faith and handing out a bible, in breach of Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) rules.

A ruling, published last week by the Court of Appeal, stated that on June 3 2016 a patient at the hospital had complained about Ms Kuteh’s conduct.

The court heard how the patient likened the incident to a ‘Monty Python skit’, which he said was ‘very bizarre’ – in which she encouraged him to sing along with Psalm 23 with her.

The ruling, which upheld a decision that she was fairly dismissed by the Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, stated: ‘On 20 June 2016, the Complaints Department noted a call from a patient being treated for cancer concerning his assessment by the Claimant on 3 June 2016.

‘He had replied ‘open minded’ to the question on the form concerning religion and alleged the Claimant had told him that the only way he could get to the Lord was through Jesus.

‘(She) told him she would give him her bible if he did not have one; gripped his hand tightly and said a prayer that was very intense and went ‘on and on’; and asked him to sing Psalm 23 [The Lord is My Shepherd] after which he was so astounded that he had sung the first verse with her.