The past year has seen numerous cases of misconduct involving nurses and midwives making headlines across the UK, most notably perhaps is that of former neonatal nurse, Lucy Letby.
The 34-year-old is serving 15 whole-life sentences after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others on August 18, 2023 at Manchester Crown Court.
A public inquiry is now underway which aims to examine how Letby was able to commit the murders and attempted murders of babies at the Countess of Chester hospital in 2015 and 2016.
Another case that made headlines this year was that of Birkenhead nurse, Francesca Morgan who was suspended from the profession after covert CCTV footage captured her taking tablets from a medication room that had been intended for patients.
Morgan, who told the court she took paracetamol for a headache, was convicted of theft at Wirral Magistrates Court in December 2022 and was hit with a six-month suspension following an investigation by the NMC in June 2024.
With more and more of these cases seemingly coming to light, Medical Negligence Assist set out to investigate further.
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How We Conducted Our Research Into Nurse And Midwife Misconduct
We sent a Freedom of Information Request to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) asking for the number of nurses and midwives that have been disciplined for misconduct in the last three years (between 2021-2024).
We also asked how many of those were dismissed permanently from duties.
For 2023/24 alone, we ask for the number of professionals struck off as well as a breakdown of reasons or alleged offence.
Statistics On Nurse And Midwife Misconduct – 2024
National Outlook
The number of nurses and midwives struck off from the profession for misconduct has skyrocketed in the last years, with figures nearly double what they were in 2021/22.
What’s more, the majority of those removed from practice were sacked because of issues relating to patient care.
Despite headlines of dwindling NHS staff numbers, the number of nurses and midwives on the official register has risen steadily each year since 2021, with staff levels 9% higher this year.
But that rise bears no comparison to the shocking spike in the number of nurses and midwives struck off from the profession for misconduct.
Figures obtained by Medical Negligence Assist via Freedom of Information requests reveal a 96% rise in sackings since 2021.
A total of 109 nurses and midwives were struck off in 2021/22, soaring to 191 the following year.
In the last year (2023/24), a total of 214 have been removed from the profession due to fitness to practise decisions, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). Of those, 210 were nurses and four were midwives.
The majority of the reasons were related to errors or neglect involving patient care. However, other proven allegations included dishonesty, violent behaviour and sexual offences
In the past year, numerous cases of misconduct involving nurses and midwives have made headlines, most notably that of former neonatal nurse, Lucy Letby.
The 34-year-old is serving 15 whole-life sentences after she was convicted of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others on August 18, 2023 at Manchester Crown Court.
A public inquiry is now underway which aims to examine how Letby was able to commit the murders and attempted murders of babies at the Countess of Chester hospital in 2015 and 2016.
Another case that made headlines this year was that of Birkenhead nurse, Francesca Morgan, who was suspended from the profession after covert CCTV footage captured her taking tablets from a medication room that had been intended for patients.
Morgan, who told the court she took paracetamol for a headache, was convicted of theft at Wirral Magistrates Court in December 2022 and was hit with a six-month suspension following an investigation by the NMC in June 2024.
Shockingly, the majority of nurses and midwives struck off in the last year have been for issues surrounding patient care, Medical Negligence Assist has found.
Its investigation revealed that of the 979 proven allegations for nurses being struck off in 2023/24, 176 of which pertained to patient care.
These included: 36 instances of inappropriate or delayed responses to negative signs, deterioration, or incidents and a further 33 wrongdoings involving diagnosis observation and assessment of a patient.
Not abiding by safeguarding requirements, hydration and nutrition issues and hygiene and infection control were also cited as reasons for dismissal.
Prescribing and Medicines Management was the second most common reason nurses have been sacked in the last year.
This included 25 counts of not administering or refusing to administer medication as well as 23 instances of inappropriate storage, transportation, preparation or disposal of medication.
There were also 9 proven allegations of theft or misappropriation of drugs from the workplace.
Dishonesty accounted for 126 of the reasons nurses and midwives were struck off including concerning allegations of collusion to cover up information and sleeping on duty.
Issues pertaining to behaviour or violence were also cited by the NMC in their decisions for suspensions including, bullying, intimidation or harassment as well as discrimination and verbal abuse.
Shockingly, there were 10 proven allegations of sexual offences in the last year alone including adult sexual assault, child sexual assault and possession of indecent images of children.
In midwifery alone, there were four members of staff struck off in 2023/24. The NMC cited two proven allegations of failing to escalate or respond appropriately to deterioration of woman or baby.
Another reason for dismissal was a lack of basic midwifery skills, competencies and knowledge while another involved issues with monitoring, observing or assessing woman or baby.
Breakdown of Statistics in Nursing and Midwifery Strike Off Reasons
Proven Allegations (Primary) | Total Count
- Patient Care | 175
- Prescribing and Medicines Management | 128
- Dishonesty | 126
- Record Keeping | 111
- Communication Issues | 67
- Not Maintaining Professional Boundaries | 59
- Behaviour or Violence | 52
- Investigations By Other Bodies | 52
- Employment and Contractual Issues | 47
- Criminal Proceedings | 46
- NMC Registration and Proceedings | 27
- Other Crimes and Offences | 25
- Information Access | 16
- Social Media | 11
- Other Allegations | 10
- Sexual Offences | 10
- Management Issues | 5
- Covid-19 | 4
- Midwifery | 4
- Motor Vehicle Related | 2
- Registrant’s Health | 2
Latest Regional Cases
Bath
In Bath earlier this year (June 24), an “aggressive” nurse was struck off after threatening to hit an elderly resident and “potentially putting other patients at risk” at Culver Hayes Nursing Home, a home for residents with dementia.
Abdikadir Hassan Mohamed was initially suspended after the ‘serious’ incident, according to the report by the NMC.
However, he refused to engage with proceedings and has since been sacked.
The report detailed that on April 12, 2021, Mr Mohamed behaved in an aggressive, threatening and demeaning manner towards a resident (named Resident B).
It states that the former nurse got very close to the patient, said he would hit him and shouted: “If you are a resident then behave as a resident,” causing distress to other residents in the home.
NMCs report found Mr Mohamed’s actions were “unprofessional and caused escalation of an incident which had the potential to put others at risk.”
He was suspended from practising as a nurse and has since not engaged with the proceedings into his actions.
Birkenhead
Birkenhead nurse Francesca Morgan , 33, was suspended from the nursing profession after covert CCTV footage captured her taking tablets from a medication room that had been intended for patients.
Morgan, who had worked as a band 5 registered nurse at Arrowe Park Hospital, was convicted of theft at Wirral Magistrates Court in 2022 and since, has been hit with a six-month suspension following an investigation by the NMC in June 2024.
Their report states that covert cameras were installed in the medication room of the hospital as a result of unaccounted medication losses.
CCTV footage captured the nurse swallowing tablets, found to have been paracetamol, from the cupboard with water as well as putting pills into her pocket and pouring lactulose into a paper cup and drinking it.
Morgan later sent an email to NHS Professionals Limited stating that she could only assume that she had placed paracetamol in her pocket to give to a patient when being in a rush and that she had not intentionally set out to steal medication, according to the report.
Greater Manchester and Lancashire
A former nurse at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust who shared indecent images of children is one of the latest to have been struck off for life following an investigation by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Ex-nurse Rebecca Ruler from Chorley has now been struck off from the profession for life, according to a new NMC report which reveals gruesome details of her actions.
Ruler had been working as a ward manager on an adult respiratory ward at the Royal Bolton Hospital when she committed four offences including making and sharing indecent images of children.
She pleaded guilty to making indecent images of children and publishing obscene material at Preston Crown Court and was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years, last August 2023.
The NMC’s committee heard how police uncovered her offending by tracing an indecent image she uploaded to Snapchat while she was working at the hospital.
Its report states: “It is noted that the IP address used to logon to the chat site where the offences were committed was traced to the NHS Trust hospital where MIss Ruler was working.”
The NMC panel found Ms Ruler’s conviction made her unfit to practise as her actions “seriously undermined public trust” and were “fundamentally incompatible” with being a nurse.
Some were indecent images of children, while others were described to the panel as “extreme, obscene, and grossly offensive” images involving animals, the panel heard.
Members said the offences would be considered “deplorable” by the public and fellow staff, and raised serious concerns about the risk she posed to others.
Wales
Mental health nurse, Helen Marie Powell was struck off after she was found to have altered a patient’s notes while working in the substance misuse service for Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
An NMC fitness to practise hearing on March 4, 2024, found seven allegations against Powell proved and banned her from working including; tampering with records and acting dishonestly.
Another nurse, Katrina Mahoney was struck off following an NMC hearing in April after killing an elderly man crossing the road on Christmas Eve and drove off.
Mahoney was more than twice the drink drive limit and was sentenced to five years imprisonment at Merthyr Crown Court last September, she has now been banned from working in the nursing profession for life.
London
A nurse from Hammersmith was struck off following a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) in September after a litany of issues were raised including failing to administer medication when instructed.
Xandra Ann De Leon Samson was struck from the register last month following a series of misdemeanours at Hammersmith and then Ealing hospitals between June 2017 and early 2019.
She was referred to the NMC by both Imperial and London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which runs Ealing Hospital, after concerns were raised about her conduct.
Allegations included; failing to administer medication and taking overly detailed notes which resulted in her leaving work hours after her shift had finished.
In one instance, Samson is recorded as telling a patient they would be prescribed blood thinner medication without having consulted a doctor.
More than 70 instances of alleged misconduct were recorded, according to the NMC, with further instances including refusing to give prescribed medication to a patient with a blood clot.
At the final hearing in early September, the NMC panel determined a striking-off order was necessary to ‘provide the level of protection needed in this case.’
Birmingham
In May this year, a Birmingham nurse was struck off following a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after she was found to have silenced a seriously ill patient’s monitoring alarm.
Madona Moses, former nurse at Heartlands Hospital in Birmingham told investigators there had been a lapse in her judgement when she had silenced an alarm which indicated falling blood pressure.
The system of the ward was then muted to stop it sounding again.
The NMC said Ms Moses showed “limited remorse.”
At a Fitness to Practise panel in May, the former nurse was also found to have failed to escalate the patient’s condition to senior colleagues, and wrongly told the family that the patient was being kept artificially alive for organ donation.
Declining to take part in the hearing, Ms Moses wrote to the panel saying she had left the profession.
Portsmouth
A senior nurse from Portsmouth was struck off in October 2024 following a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after admitting 14 charges including swearing and taunting other colleagues.
Sam Jamieson-Davies, former senior nurse at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust was struck off officially by the NMC this week.
She admitted 14 charges and was found guilty of a further 23 at a two-week hearing.
The nurse was found to have taunted a colleague by giving out cake bars in wrappers bearing the image of the Grand High Witch from Roald Dahl’s novel The Witches, the NMC heard.
On one occasion, Ms Jamieson-Davies, who directed the jibe at a senior nursing colleague, told her: “You wouldn’t require fixed working if you weren’t such a passive wife.”
She also swore at the colleague, failed to prepare her for a patient safety meeting and dismissed her concerns about a patient who had not been given insulin.
Another instance involved the band 7 nurse failing to respond to a fire alarm set, saying: “Let them burn.”
The NMC concluded: “The medication errors and the lack of action during a fire alarm placed patients at a real risk of harm.”
Cumbria
Earlier this year, a former nurse at a Cumbrian Hospital was struck off following a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) following allegations which included; incompetence in medicines management and dishonesty.
Former West Cumberland Hospital nurse, Roshin Mohammed Sherif was struck off earlier this year, March following charges covering wide-ranging areas of his practice while working as a band 5 nurse between 2021 and 2022.
Proven allegations included; Mr Sherif drawing up medication without clinical justification, incompetence in medicines management, inability to recall information and failure to escalate patient situations duly.
The NMC report contains a colleague’s witness statement which reads: “Mr Sherif would struggle to use the Omnicell (electronic drugs cabinet) and would often have forced entries where he would pull at a cupboard door which was not flashing or would miss the flashing light indicating to him which medication was required.”
Another incident detailed how Mr Sherif left a urine spill on the floor, unsafe for a high-isk falls patient.
The NMC panel found the former nurse “lacked the key skills that were required of a band 5 nurse” and that there was a “real risk of potential harm to patients.”
Edinburgh
An Edinburgh nurse who screamed at a colleague and “forcefully fed” a patient was given a striking-off order following a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).
Former NHS Lothian nurse Yosi Daniel Akut was struck off from the profession last month following a litany of accusations which included shouting at a colleague that they would be ‘struck down by God.’
The NMC council heard that on November 2019 while working on the Fillieside Ward at Findlay House, Akut was seen to “forcefully feed” one patient causing them to spit out their food.
Overall, Akut admitted to almost 30 charges while a further eight were found to be proved.
The NMC committee has now made the decision to issue a striking off order after finding Ms Akut was “behaving in an aggressive manner towards a patient and colleagues and had a lack of compassion and regard for patient safety.”
Glasgow
A Glasgow nurse is one of the latest to have been struck off from the profession following a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after a botched cosmetic procedure left a client with a suspected blood vessel blockage
Jennifer McLeish’s client sustained a suspected vascular occlusion – which is a blood vessel blockage that can be caused by a blood clot or pressure in the arteries.
If left untreated, it can lead to infection, cell and tissue death or blindness.
The botched cosmetic procedure took place at Ms Mcleish’s Glasgow salon in September 2019 while the patient was receiving hyaluronic injections for lip filler.
Now, the NMC has struck her off from the profession after finding she “failed to advise [the patient] of the risks associated with hyaluronic injections prior to their administration.”
It also found she “failed to obtain informed or any consent” from the patient.”
North Yorkshire
A former Tees, Esk & Wear Valleys (TEWV) nurse is one of the latest to have been struck off from the profession following a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after pleading guilty to possessing child abuse images.
Former TEWV mental health nurse, Scott Macleod has been banned from working in the profession following a NMC hearing in September.
Macleod was arrested by North Yorkshire Police on February 2, 2022 on suspicion of making an indecent photograph/pseudo-photograph of a child. His hard drive was seized and a search revealed an illegal image.
The NMC panel found that Macleod’s conduct breached fundamental tenets of the nursing profession and brought its reputation into disrepute.
Its report reads: “The panel determined that the appropriate and proportionate sancion is that of a striking-off order. Nothing short of that would be sufficient in this case.”
Northern Ireland
A Northern Ireland nurse is one of the latest to have been struck off from the profession following a hearing by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) after revealing a patient had a sexually transmitted disease and called her a ‘slag.’
Former Londonderry nurse Karla Sarah Mullan was recently struck off following a litany of allegations including calling a female patient a ‘slag.’
Ms Mullan was known to the patient’s current partner, an NMC panel heard.
Other allegations raised included, gripping a colleague’s arm and/or trying to pull her into a room, and being dishonest when asked whether she was under investigation.
The report details one incident stating: “You were allegedly aggressive towards Colleague 2, challenging the dressing she had recommended for a patient.
“You were allegedly hostile and said you did not like Colleague 2’s attitude on the phone.
“Colleague 2 advised you to leave her alone. You allegedly waited outside the bathroom opposite the office for Colleague 2, grabbed her arm and attempted to drag her to the copy room.”
The NMC panel concluded a striking-off order was the most appropriate sanction in this case.
Lincolnshire
Earlier this year, a Lincolnshire nurse was struck off after it was found she was working while receiving sick pay.
Former Lincoln County Hospital senior nurse, Maricris Hilario Vallido was struck off following a NMC hearing in May this year for working in a care home while receiving sick pay from the NHS hospital trust.
A disciplinary panel found she had also worked shifts in hospital followed by shifts in a care home, without adequate breaks in-between.
The hearing was told that while off ill in 2019, she worked shifts at a care home while on phased return to work at the hospital trust.
NMC’s report details that Mrs Vallido was “alleged to have worked early or late day shifts at the ward at the trust and would then undertake further shifts without adequate breaks in-between.”
The panel concluded that the Lincolnshire nurses’ actions amounted to misconduct and sanctioned her with a striking-off order.
Berkshire/ Reading
A Reading nurse was recently struck off for fraudulently claiming for shifts he did not work.
Former senior nurse at the Royal Berkshire Hospital’s intensive care unit, Ruaidhri Cantillon was struck off by the NMC in June for being dishonest about his shifts.
In February 2023, Cantillon’s line manager saw he put in a claim for nine previous shits. The former nurse admitted using a colleague’s log-in details to authorise the shifts, without their knowledge or permission.
An NMC panel also heard that he had increased the banding of pay for the shifts he had not worked. It said patients were “inadvertently put at risk” as a result of his “fraudulent actions.”
