THE executive director of Banbury's Horton Hospital has apologised to patients and their relatives abused by murdering nurse Ben Geen.

Mike Fleming, who trained as an A&E nurse and has worked in the NHS for 34 years, explained how he had to break the news to families once it was realised that 17 people had fallen prey to a member of his staff.

He said: "At the time, I remember very clearly it fell to me to ring each of the patients or their families. Clearly they have felt a lot of distress and I hope the conclusion of the court case will allow them to move on.

"It goes without saying that I offer my sincere apologies to them."

Mr Fleming said it was not just the patients who had been left in tatters by Geen's illicit actions.

He said: "We were shocked and distressed. I looked at the faces of staff and I was equally distressed by the whole thing.

"People come into a hospital like the Horton with a busy emergency department and expect professionals to do a good job.

"Similarly, it's been difficult for the team to understand how an individual departed from that a level of professionalism, to tarnish the workforce and bring the whole hospital under the spotlight which has left people casting doubt on them.

"Given that the Horton is such a highly regarded hospital, it must also have impacted on the community as a whole."

Despite the troubles, including a long police investigation followed by a high-profile court case, Mr Fleming said A&E staff had remained at the top of their profession. He said: "They are professional and considerate and for them to go through all of this and still give a full first-class service on the shop floor is a credit to them.

"They have been doing so probably with the spectre that the public thought it was a tarnished service."