SUFFOLK nurse Samantha Knight humiliated sick patients by leaving them lying naked on the hospital wards and pushed them around when they became difficult, an inquiry heard today.

SUFFOLK nurse Samantha Knight humiliated sick patients by leaving them lying naked on the hospital wards and pushed them around when they became difficult, an inquiry heard today (MON).

Knight, 37, of Wingfield, near Eye allegedly gave one woman a large bruise on her leg after rolling her on top of the side of her cot while it was cleaned.

She also ignored one man's complaints of a headache, which later needed emergency treatment, it is claimed.

Patients at two Suffolk hospitals were left naked on the ward, lying with their legs open, force-fed or handled 'inappropriately' with a suction pump, the hearing was told.

Knight faces 11 charges of professional misconduct over her treatment of patients at both the Patrick Stead Hospital in Suffolk and the Beccles and District War Memorial Hospital.

The E-grade staff nurse worked at the Patrick Stead from August 1999 looking after patients who needed either rehabilitation, respite or terminal care.

She allegedly pushed patient A, who needed to go to the toilet, into a chair and told her in an annoyed voice: 'Be quiet and wait.'

Nursing colleagues later saw Knight force milk down the throat of another patient while holding her head back.

The hearing continues.