A Conservative peer who branded nurses "grubby, drunken and promiscuous"
during a debate in the House of Lords faced a rebuke from David Cameron and
fury from nursing leaders and ministers today.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said Lord Mancroft's comments were
"grossly unfair on nurses across the UK" and amounted to a "sexist insult
about the behaviour of British women."

Mr Cameron, said to be furious, told the Lords leader Lord Strathclyde to
reprimand the peer.

The row came after Lord Mancroft claimed that it was "a miracle" that he was
still alive after his experience of filthy wards and "slipshod and lazy"
nurses when he was admitted to an NHS hospital in the West Country, believed
to be the Royal United Hospital in Bath.

He alleged that nurses chatted to one another about their sex lives and
alcohol intake in front of patients, some of whom they regarded as "a
nuisance".

"The nurses who looked after me were mostly grubby - we are talking about
dirty fingernails and hair - and were slipshod and lazy. Worst of all, they
were drunken and promiscuous," he said.

"How do I know that? Because if you're a patient and you're lying in a bed,
and you're being nursed from either side, they talk across you as if you're
not there.

"So I know exactly what they got up to the night before, and how much they
drank, and I know exactly what they were planning to do the next night, and
I can tell you, it's pretty horrifying."

The nurses were "an accurate reflection of many young women in Britain
today", claimed the peer.

But as the furore over his remarks mounted, it emerged that it was not the
first time Lord Mancroft had criticised the health service.

The peer was treated successfully for heroin addiction in the United States
and, in a Lords debate in 1991, accused the NHS of being the "biggest
supplier of addictive drugs in the world."

Lord Mancroft, chairman of the Addiction Recovery Foundation, was reported
in The Times at the time as saying that his life had been governed for years
by an overpowering addiction to heroin, cocaine, alcohol and pills. His
family had searched everywhere for the help he needed. Eventually he was
treated successfully in Minnesota and suggested the health department send a
team to the United States to study methods of treatment.

The peer, who went to Eton and is a member of Pratt's private members club,
told peers last night that he owed his life to the fact that his wife
"kidnapped" him and took him to a hospital in London where standards were
higher.

The Tory peer did not name the hospital involved, but the RCN said it had
identified it and was in contact with the NHS Trust responsible to discuss
his allegations.

Mr Cameron was swift to act. Aides said he was furious and has asked Lord
Strathclyde to rebuke Lord Mancroft. His views were not shared by the
Conservative Party, which knew that nurses did a fantastic job, often in
difficult circumstances, a spokesman said.

RCN general secretary and chief executive Dr Peter Carter said: "These
comments are extremely unhelpful and grossly unfair on nurses across the UK
who work extremely hard to provide patients with the highest standards of
care.

"Where poor nursing exists, it should always be challenged through the
proper channels. If any patient has an issue with their treatment by staff
they should raise this with the healthcare provider rather than make
sweeping generalisations about nurses and sexist insults about the behaviour
of British women.

"The RCN has contacted the trust concerned over these allegations."

Ann Keen, a health minister, said: "I am appalled at his comments and I'm
sure the rest of the British public are too. The entire country holds nurses
in the highest regard."

Gail Adams, Unison head of nursing, said: "There is no excuse for bad
nursing and Lord Mancroft's complaints need to be investigated thoroughly by
the hospital. However, his gross generalisations will make many nurses
extremely angry and upset, and rightly so.

"To brand all nurses in this way is an insult. Most patients would agree
that the vast majority of nursing staff are a credit to their profession.
They deliver high quality, professional care, day in, night out, caring for
patients and take great pride in their work."