A CARER accused of stripping to his underwear in the home of a female patient has been struck off.

A disciplinary hearing in Cardiff was told that NHS Occupational Therapist Martin Gossage, from Penarth, was making a home visit when he "disrobed" down to his underpants and put his clothes in her washing machine.

The woman patient told the disciplinary hearing on Tuesday she was "horrified" when near naked Gossage, who was based at Barry's Amy Evans Centre, began loading his clothes into her machine.

She said: "He asked if he could use my washing machine to clean his clothes and I said yes - obviously expecting he would go to the bathroom to change.

"I was horrified when Martin was stood in my kitchen in his underpants.

"It was unacceptable and unprofessional to undress to his underpants."

Gossage faces 12 separate allegations of misconduct during the two years he cared for the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Presenting officer Ally Wilkes said: "The woman made a number of allegations including him disrobing to his underwear in front of her to use the washing machine in her home.

"His care of the woman was brought to an end after concerns about the amount of time he was spending with her."

The hearing in Cardiff was told an occupational therapist should make a home visit once or twice a week but Gossage visited the woman almost every day for two years.

Gossage is also accused of taking money from the woman and making her dependent on him by not encouraging her independence.

Other allegations include crushing a 24-hour dose of antibiotics into a litre of soft drink for her to drink throughout the day.

During an internal investigation at the Amy Evans Centre Gossage admitted he had "lost the plot" while caring for the woman between 2008 and July 2010.

Gossage told bosses there was "an excessive level of involvement" in his care for the woman and he "couldn't see the wood for the trees".

He said his clinical judgement had become "awful" and agreed to go on sick leave before eventually retiring.

Gossage is not attending the hearing of the Health and Care Professions Council.

At the time of going to press Mr Gossage was found guilty of 10 of the 12 allegations and was struck off.

The allegations of him undressing to his underpants and putting his clothes in the washing machine, as well as misleading the woman about his whereabouts on several occasions, were unproven.