A SECURITY guard was sacked after taking 'inappropriate' pictures of a hospital patient with severe dementia, it has been revealed.

The incident was one of a number of patient safety events involving security guards at the trust that manages south Cumbria's hospitals.

A review into incidents involving security guards working with people with severe dementia was conducted by the Morecambe Bay hospitals trust. 

The specific nature of the incidents only came to light after a freedom of information battle fought by this newspaper.

Bosses looked into four incidents involving security guards who operated at Furness General Hospital and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

In one case a guard was seen by a nurse taking 'inappropriate' photographs of a patient on his mobile phone.

The nurse contacted the security officer for the hospital, who replaced the guard with another one.

The guard was taken off-site and later dismissed by the security firm they worked for.

In another incident the matron for dementia witnessed a patient being held in front of a chair and forcibly pushed down to be seated, the review said.

The matron intervened and questioned the person who had no uniform on and was dressed in their own clothes.

It became evident that the person was a security guard who was new to the role, did not have a uniform and explained that he had not received any appropriate training for the situation.

The guard was removed from the ward and asked not to work again in a clinical area until trained.

Another incident involved two guards not allowing a patient 'expressing aggression and anger by hitting out at staff and the environment around him' to leave a room.

The review said both guards 'displayed inadequate knowledge and understanding of dementia, with an inability to support care needs'.

The fourth incident was reviewed but the guard was found to have behaved appropriately.

A full unredacted version of the review was only obtained following an appeal to the hospital trust by this newspaper. 

The incidents took place over a fourth-month period in 2020, with points of a detailed action plan put in place over the following year. 

A trust spokeswoman said: "Patient, visitor and staff safety on our sites is vital.

"These incidents, from 2020, highlighted a need to ensure all contractors coming to work with us have the knowledge and skills they need to perform their role, particularly around vulnerable patients. 

"Any incidents involving contractors or staff members are investigated robustly and, if required, swift dismissal. 

"We worked quickly with our senior staff, Safeguarding teams, contractors and our commissioners to prevent any further incidents of this nature. 

"A full training programme on dementia care was implemented by the Matron for Dementia and was well attended at the time.

"As a result of this positive work, we have not experienced any further incidents of this type."