Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing

Struck off the register

The regulator’s term: erasure

What does “struck off the register” mean?

Being struck off (the regulator calls this "erasure") removes the practitioner from the register. They are no longer permitted to practise this profession in the UK. Erasure can be reviewed after a minimum of five years, but is otherwise indefinite.

Concerning Shona Mary Ovenstone, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 04I0651S).

Decision date: 16 April 2026 · Hearing started 23 October 2025 and ended 16 April 2026

In plain English

The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee found that Shona Mary Ovenstone, a registered nurse who ran an aesthetics clinic in Fife, dishonestly administered Botox to a patient in March and April 2024 using a prescription intended for another patient, reused the same vial after 13 days against single-use instructions, failed to keep adequate records, and breached her duty of candour by not telling the patient what had happened. The panel imposed a striking-off order with an 18-month interim suspension order during the appeal period.

Charges

While the registered manager and practitioner of SO Youthful Beauty Aesthetics, the registrant was alleged: (1) on 22 March 2024 to have administered Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox) to Patient A in circumstances where (a) no face-to-face consultation with a Prescriber occurred, (b) no Prescriber had issued a prescription for Patient A, (c) she did not adequately enquire about previous Botox history, and (d) the Botox had been prescribed for another patient; (2) that her conduct in charge 1 was dishonest in that (a) she knew the Botox was not prescribed for Patient A and (b) she knowingly acted outside her scope of practice; (3) failed to keep adequate records of the 22 March 2024 consultation; (4) on 4 April 2024 administered a Botox top-up using the same vial from the 22 March appointment, contrary to single-use and 24-hour storage instructions; (5) failed to keep adequate records of the 4 April 2024 consultation; (6) failed to record post-administration discussions, attendance, side-effects and post-care advice; (7) failed to comply with her professional duty of candour by not disclosing the unprescribed Botox to Patient A; (8) and (9) acted in contravention of HIS action plans following inspections in October 2023 and January 2024.

Findings

The Fitness to Practise Committee, sitting in the registrant's absence, found proved charges 1 in its entirety, 2 in its entirety, 3c, 4 in its entirety, 5a, 5c, 6 in its entirety, 7, and 8 in relation to charge 6 only. Charges 3a, 3b, 5b, 9, and charge 8 in relation to charges 3 and 5 were found not proved. The panel found that the charges found proved (excluding 3c) amounted to misconduct involving dishonesty, breach of the duty of candour, acting outside scope of competence, failure to follow medication safety procedures, and failure to keep adequate records. The panel found all four limbs of the Grant test engaged: Patient A was put at unwarranted risk of harm and caused physical and emotional harm; the misconduct breached fundamental tenets of the nursing profession; and the registrant acted dishonestly. The panel found very little insight, no remorse for the impact on Patient A, and no remediation. It concluded that fitness to practise is currently impaired on both public protection and public interest grounds.

Mitigating factors

Some admissions made locally.

Aggravating factors

Conduct which deliberately or recklessly put Patient A at risk of suffering harm. Limited insight. Failure to attend hearings, or to engage in the Fitness to Practise process, without good reason. Failure to respond or act upon the recommendations of the HIS report. Acting outside her scope of competence.

Source

All facts on this page are drawn from the publicly published Nursing and Midwifery Council determination linked below. MedicWatch does not editorialise the regulator’s findings.

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