A nurse has been struck off after using a pen and a drinking straw in an effort to relieve a patient’s constipation.

Traian Mihail Dumitrescu was sacked from Crosfield House care home in Rhayader in January 2014 after colleagues reported him to the management.

A Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) panel meeting on November 27 concluded he was a risk to the public and no longer fit to practice.

Mr Dumitrescu was first handed a 12-month conditions of practice order by the NMC in December 2014 after he admitted using the objects on an elderly resident with dementia.

On that occasion, the panel was satisfied that he demonstrated “some insight” and “accepted his behaviour was wrong”. Mr Dumitrescu, a Romanian national, gave assurance that he was willing to undertake further training if he was to return to practice in the UK.

A Personal Development Plan was devised for Mr Dumitrescu to address “deficiencies” in the management of constipation, gaining consent to treatment and dementia care.

At a review in December 2015, he was handed a one-year suspension after the panel heard he had not complied with the conditions of practice order.

A year later a new conditions of practice order was imposed as Mr Dumitrescu had expressed a desire to return to nursing. The conditions included undertaking training and producing a piece of reflective writing on the need to treat patients with dignity and respect.

But at the latest review meeting, the panel said there was “no new information” as Mr Dumitrescu had again failed to meet the conditions after returning to Romania.

They said given his repeated failure to engage, they were left with no choice but to impose a striking-off order in order to maintain public confidence in the profession and the NMC as its regulator.

Panel chair Paul Powici said: “There is nothing to indicate that Mr Dumitrescu has developed insight into, nor taken steps to remedy, his misconduct.

“The panel noted that it had been made clear to Mr Dumitrescu by the previous panel that his registration was at risk should he fail to engage with the review process, comply with the conditions of practice order and demonstrate remediation and insight regarding his misconduct.

“The panel also considered Mr Dumitrescu has not demonstrated any recent commitment to return to the nursing profession.”

The striking-off order will come into effect on January 13, 2018.