NHS paramedic Joshua Sharp took photos of dead patient and sent them to friends on Facebook

An NHS paramedic has avoided a professional ban after it emerged that he sent pictures of a patient’s decomposing body to colleagues via social media.

North West Ambulance Service worker Joshua Sharp has instead received a caution for his “appalling” and “deplorable” actions.

The paramedic has expressed deep regret for his conduct, describing it as an “error of judgement”.

A tribunal heard that in February 2022, Mr Sharp attended an incident with colleagues where they discovered a patient who had died and was in a state of decomposition.

He proceeded to take photographs of the body, showing them to one colleague and sending them to another on WhatsApp with the instruction: “Don’t send it about, I’d rather not get sacked.”

He later shared the images with a different colleague on Facebook Messenger.

The following day, he was advised to delete the images and to tell those with whom he had shared them to delete them too.

He subsequently deleted the images and told one colleague: “Please don’t send on, I’ve been told I’m probably going to get sacked for this.”

He told another: “Been told to delete them pics, going to get sacked if management and going to get kicked off course if uni find out.”

He also added that “if anyone does ask, you took them yourself”.

Mr Sharp was later interviewed during an investigation by NWAS and admitted taking two photographs of the patient.

He said he panicked when he realised that they were being shared around.

He was sacked in September 2022, but later managed to find a job in adult A&E at Royal Derby Hospital.

The Health & Care Professions Tribunal Service (HCPTS) have now given him an official caution for his conduct, which will stay on his record for three years.

He said during the hearing: “With reflection, I now understand much more clearly the seriousness of my actions.

“Taking photographs of a deceased patient was a breach of dignity, trust, and professional boundaries.

“Sharing those images was a further serious failing. Attempting to conceal my actions then compounded the seriousness of the original misconduct.

“I recognise that the public must be able to trust paramedics to act with integrity, professionalism, and respect for patients at all times, including after death. My actions fell far short of that.”

The chair of the hearing concluded: “The Panel concluded that [Mr Sharp’s] actions in taking images of a deceased patient were appalling.

“That alone merited a finding of misconduct.

“However, rather than deleting the images, [Mr Sharp’s] conduct had been made cumulatively worse by an accelerating series of bad decisions.

“He had shared the images with colleagues, knowing the consequences of doing so.

“He then sought to shelter himself from those consequences by inducing a colleague to pretend that they had taken the images, despite knowing the consequences for them if that were acted on and believed.

“The Panel concluded that such conduct would be regarded by fellow professionals as deplorable.

“It was not appropriate for [Mr Sharp] to take or retain photographs of a deceased patient, particularly on a personal device, and there was no proper professional justification for doing so.”