TWO nurses have been struck off for 18 months for offending staff and patients with racist, sexist and offensive behaviour at Prestwich Hospital.

One of them, Iain Butterworth, was filmed dancing sexually against a door in front of patients and called a colleague's disabled children "retarded".

Mr Butterworth joined his colleague Gemma Billington in insulting black colleagues and humiliating a student nurse, who was "paraded like a show pony" in front of male colleagues.

The pair have since left their roles as mental-health nurses at the hospital on the Ullswater Ward at the Edenfield Centre, off Valley Park Road, Prestwich.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council’s (NMC) disciplinary panel held an eight-day hearing into the issue in London and it ended on Friday.

Greater Manchester West Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust runs the hospital and its director of nursing and operations Gill Green said: "These two individuals worked in positions of trust and absolutely abused that privilege.

"We do use robust and strong recruitment and selection processes, but despite our best efforts, some successful candidates can go on to not uphold the standards and values of our trust.

"This will not be tolerated in any way and we applaud those who speak up and report these behaviours so they can be dealt with as seriously as they have been."

The offensive behaviour took place in 2012.

On several occasions, Mr Butterworth was spotted dancing in a provocative and sexual manner in front of patients while it was filmed on a mobile phone.

A nurse who witnessed it said: "They'd film each other dancing around the room. He was grinding and using the door as a makeshift pole."

Two of Mr Butterworth's colleagues told managers he had, on separate occasions, referred to their disabled children as "retarded kids."

One expressed concern about his suitability as a nurse if he had that attitude towards people.

In another incident, Mr Butterworth and Mrs Billington were reading about a nurse at another hospital struck off for using racist language.

In earshot of a black African student nurse, they laughed as they repeated racist phrases mentioned in the report and made references to black people eating bananas.

The report gives examples of other occasions when Mrs Billington had used racist language, suggesting it was not an isolated incident, while Mr Butterworth mocked an African' colleague's hair weave, causing her offence.

"Mr Butterworth accepted that Mrs Billington freely used racist language in the ward office," the report adds.

In August 2012, Mrs Billington — a mentor for students — instructed a female student nurse to go to a ward for the sole purpose of "having her physical appearance appraised" by three male colleagues.

When she arrived, Mr Butterworth took a photo of her on his mobile phone.

One of the men present told the committee: "I felt bad for her. I realised that she had been sent down to be put 'on show'. She had been paraded like a show pony."

The experience made the student nurse feel humiliated, angry and upset.

On another occasion, a nurse recalled hearing Mrs Billington make fun of the student nurse's competence by waving her records around saying: "This is how not to do it," while laughing.

Mr Butterworth let slip to a third party that the student nurse had failed her placement before she anyone had broken the news to her.

The report says: "When the two nurses were together, Mr Butterworth became loud and derogatory and they would often try to 'outdo' one another.

"Mrs Billington and Mr Butterworth should have been setting a better example and acting as a role model, particularly to student nurses, rather than demonstrating her own poor behaviour and behaving in an unprofessional manner."

The panel found five allegations proved against Mrs Billington and six of seven allegations proved against Mr Butterworth.

Neither of the pair attended the hearing.

In a written statement, Mr Butterworth said it had been a long and painful process.

He added: "I am trying to move forward with my life and come to terms with what happened."

He denied using racist language and said he was from an ethnic minority group himself.

Mrs Billington, who now works at the Priory Cheadle Royal Hospital, denied any wrongdoing.

She made a failed attempt to have the case thrown out after claiming her human rights were being infringed as too much time had passed since the alleged incidents so he could not receive a fair hearing.

The committee criticised Mrs Billington’s attitude and said she had failed to understand the severity of her actions, which it called "deplorable."