Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — review hearing
NMC panel finds nurse Ann Marie Simmonds no longer impaired; suspension to lapse
The Nursing and Midwifery Council's Fitness to Practise Committee has found nurse Ann Marie Simmonds is no longer impaired, allowing her six-month suspension to lapse on 12 August 2026 after finding she had reflected on breaching an earlier order and shown meaningful remediation.
MedicWatch editorial · Published 21 July 2026 · Updated 31 August 2026
No impairment found
Added to MedicWatch: 17 August 2026Report a correction
What does “no impairment found” mean?
The regulator considered the case and found that the practitioner's fitness to practise was not currently impaired. No restrictions are imposed.
Concerning Ann Marie Simmonds, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 99J0125E).
Decision date: 21 July 2026 · Hearing started 21 July 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee found that Ann Marie Simmonds' fitness to practise is no longer impaired. She had been suspended for six months in January 2026 after admitting she became clinically involved in a resident's care while subject to an earlier suspension order. At this first review the panel found her insight had developed significantly, that she had remained in a non-clinical role and that repetition was highly unlikely. Her suspension order will lapse when it expires on 12 August 2026.
Charges
The charge found proved by way of admission at the substantive hearing, which resulted in the imposition of the order under review, was: 'That you, a registered nurse: On 19 July 2022, you breached your suspension order in that you became clinically involved in a patient's care while suspended from the register. AND in light of the above, your fitness to practise is impaired by reason of your misconduct.'
Findings
This was the first review of a suspension order imposed for six months by a Fitness to Practise Committee panel on 13 January 2026, due to expire at the end of 12 August 2026. The panel carried out a comprehensive review and exercised its own judgement. It was satisfied that Mrs Simmonds had fully engaged with the regulatory process and had addressed the recommendations of the substantive panel, finding that her insight had developed significantly: she accepted full responsibility, no longer sought to justify or minimise her actions, and demonstrated a clear understanding that compliance with regulatory sanctions is absolute. The panel found meaningful remediation, accepting that she had remained in a strictly non-clinical operational role throughout the suspension with all clinical responsibilities transferred to appropriately authorised colleagues, and attached significant weight to positive testimonials. Applying Cohen, it concluded the misconduct was remediable, had been appropriately remedied and was highly unlikely to be repeated, and applying Grant that she would not in future put patients at unwarranted risk of harm, bring the profession into disrepute or breach a fundamental tenet. It found her fitness to practise is not currently impaired on either public protection or public interest grounds, and directed that the substantive suspension order lapse upon expiry at the end of 12 August 2026 in accordance with Article 30(1).
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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