Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — review 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 Lea Mary Stewart, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 04I1737S).
Decision date: 20 March 2026 · Hearing started 20 March 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee directed a striking-off order against Lea Mary Stewart, a registered adult nurse from West Lothian, on 20 March 2026 at a substantive order review meeting. She had been suspended for nine months from June 2025 over inappropriate access to patient records between March and September 2020, including records of people known to her. The panel concluded she had not engaged with the regulatory process or provided any evidence of insight or remediation, and the striking-off order will take effect at the end of 24 April 2026 when the current suspension expires.
Charges
The original charges proved at the substantive hearing in June 2025 concerned that, between March and September 2020, Miss Stewart accessed patient records without clinical justification on multiple occasions, and that some or all of those patient records belonged to people known to her, including neighbours, family, and friends. The original panel had concluded the conduct breached fundamental tenets of the profession.
Findings
The panel found Miss Stewart's fitness to practise remains impaired. Miss Stewart had not engaged with the regulatory process at this review and had provided no evidence of insight, remediation, or strengthened practice. The panel concluded a continuing finding of impairment was required on both public protection and public interest grounds, that a further period of suspension would serve no useful purpose given her disengagement, and that a striking-off order was the only sanction that would adequately protect the public and maintain professional standards.
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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