A nurse who was sacked after she clamped her hand over the mouth of a vulnerable patient and told him to “shut up” should not be barred from working, a hearing has ruled.

Pakistani-trained Shabana Tabassum, 38, was sacked by Kingston Primary Care Trust after the incident at Tolworth Hospital on July 11, 2008.

But a Nursing and Midwifery Council hearing ruled that while her actions amounted to misconduct, she should not be barred from working as a nurse again because she was struggling with "cultural and language differences" at the time.

In its ruling it said: "This patient was an extremely vulnerable patient who was partially sighted and deaf with limited understanding and challenging behaviour as a result of a stroke.

"The panel determined the registrant telling this patient to ‘shut up’ and then putting a hand over his mouth amounted to misconduct."

However, the panel stopped short of barring her from working again after hearing she had little experience of working with vulnerable adults at the time as well as cultural differences from training and working in Pakistan.

She was also returning from maternity leave and working from long hours, it said.

It concluded it was unlikely her misconduct would be repeated and heard testimonials from colleagues in the care home she now works at that she was "a hard working, diligent, kind, honest, compassionate nurse who performs her duties with integrity and empathy."

Mrs Tabassum, who lives near the hospital in Tolworth Rise South, Tolworth, did not attend the hearing.

However her husband Nawaz Bhatti, 30, said his family struggled for money when she lost her job and she was very upset by the incident.

He said: "She felt very bad because I’m in the very early stages in this country and struggling and have not much money and savings."

His wife now works in a care home in Berrylands.

A spokesman for Kingston Primary Care Trust said: "I can confirm this member of staff was dismissed by us as soon as it came to light and we took the decision to report her to the Nursing and Midwifery Council because we felt as nurses ourselves we had to do so."