Health and Care Professions Council determination — substantive hearing
HCPTS panel suspends Brian Woolford for sexually motivated messages
The paramedic received a nine-month suspension after using ambulance records to contact a vulnerable patient and sending flirtatious messages.
MedicWatch editorial · Published 1 May 2025 · Updated 23 September 2026
Suspension (suspended from practice) — 9 months
Data last checked: 23 September 2026Report a correction
What does “suspended from practice” mean?
The regulator imposed a fixed-term suspension in this decision. Its start date, appeal provisions and any later review affect whether it is currently in force. Check the official register for the practitioner's current status.
Concerning Brian Woolford, paramedic (Health and Care Professions Council PA42729).
Decision date: 1 May 2025 · Hearing started 28 April 2025 and ended 1 May 2025
In plain English
The HCPTS panel found that paramedic Brian Woolford used ambulance records to contact a vulnerable patient and sent flirtatious messages in pursuit of a future sexual relationship. It found serious misconduct, developing but insufficient insight and a continuing risk of repetition. Because the behaviour was isolated and potentially remediable, it imposed a nine-month suspension rather than striking him off.
Charges
Mr Woolford admitted obtaining a vulnerable patient's contact details from ambulance records for personal use and sending her inappropriate messages after treating her for an overdose. The panel also considered whether this breach of professional boundaries was sexually motivated.
Findings
The panel found that Mr Woolford's flirtatious messages were sent in pursuit of a future sexual relationship and that his conduct amounted to serious misconduct. It found developing but insufficient insight, a continuing potential for repetition, and impairment on personal and public grounds. It considered the behaviour remediable and imposed a nine-month suspension rather than striking him off.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
Mitigating factors
The Registrant is of previous good character; the Registrant has practised as a Paramedic since the events with no concerns raised and positive feedback from an informed employer; the Registrant produced reflective pieces; the Registrant fully engaged with both employer investigations and the HCPC investigation and admitted the primary facts; the Registrant has shown a commitment to Paramedic practice.
Aggravating factors
The imbalance of power between the Registrant and Patient A; the potential for harm to Patient A as a result of the boundary breaches; the vulnerability of Patient A, who experienced mental health issues and needed treatment from the Registrant as a result of an overdose.
Source
All facts on this page are drawn from the publicly published Health and Care Professions Council determination linked below. MedicWatch does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.
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