Jacob Bailey: Paramedic struck off for misconduct including falling asleep on patient's sofa, reckless driving

An investigation by the Health and Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) also found Jacob Bailey, who worked for the East of England Ambulance Service since 2019, to have engaged in multiple instances of misconduct, including making inappropriate comments about patients and colleagues in a private Facebook group chat, sharing confidential information, and behaving unprofessionally while in uniform.

Investigators uncovered 59,615 posts, comments, and reactions in the group chat between November 2021 and April 2022. One message from November 2021 read: “I’m falling asleep on this patient’s sofa.” Another from the same month stated: “With a patient who won’t stop moaning in pain F*** hurry up,”** accompanied by two laughing emojis.

Bailey was also found to have shared confidential patient information, including a picture of a patient’s defibrillator monitor and addresses of people he was responding to. In reference to a colleague, he reportedly wrote: “Go catheterise yourself.”

His misconduct extended beyond online interactions. The tribunal heard that Bailey posted pictures of himself in his paramedic uniform while making obscene gestures at the camera. Additionally, he was found to have taken both hands off the steering wheel of his ambulance for approximately three seconds while driving with a colleague. “It is unknown if there was a patient in the ambulance at the time,” the tribunal noted.

As a result of the investigation, Bailey was suspended in May 2022. He later reported himself to the tribunal service but initially described himself as a “whistleblower” before later retracting the claim. The tribunal concluded that he had admitted the allegations, and he was voluntarily removed from the professional register.