Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing
NMC panel strikes off nurse Penny Senner over patient records and vaccine claims
The Nursing and Midwifery Council's Fitness to Practise Committee has struck nurse Penny Senner off the register, finding she accessed patients' records without authorisation, told a cancer patient her Covid-19 vaccinations had caused it, and gave patients an unapproved anti-vaccination leaflet.
MedicWatch editorial · Published 15 June 2026 · Updated 8 July 2026
Erasure (struck off the register)
Added to MedicWatch: 8 July 2026Report a correction
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 Penny Ann Senner, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 14D1080E).
Decision date: 15 June 2026 · Hearing started 8 June 2026 and ended 15 June 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee found that Penny Senner, a registered nurse in Dorset, accessed numerous patients' records without a legitimate clinical reason over more than a year, told a cancer patient that her Covid-19 vaccinations had caused her cancer, and gave patients an unapproved leaflet linking to an anti-vaccination website. The panel decided these actions were attempts to undermine public confidence in public health advice, amounted to misconduct, and made her fitness to practise impaired. It imposed a striking-off order, citing limited insight and a high risk of repetition.
Charges
The charges alleged that Ms Senner, a registered nurse: between 17 January 2023 and 31 May 2024 accessed numerous patients' records without authorisation and/or a legitimate clinical reason; on 15 August 2023 said to Patient A, in relation to her Covid-19 vaccinations and boosters, 'that's what caused your cancer'; distributed information and leaflets to patients that had not been approved by the Trust, including offering Patient A a leaflet linking to an anti-vaccination website (proved), sharing with several breast cancer patients information suggesting Covid-19 vaccination had caused their cancer (no case to answer accepted), and telling a breast cancer patient about a link between cancer and the vaccination and that the Trust were covering it up (not proved); and that her actions were attempts to undermine public confidence in public health advice.
Findings
The panel found charges 1, 2, 3a and 4 proved on the balance of probabilities, and found charge 3c not proved; it accepted there was no case to answer on charge 3b. It relied on the Trust's investigation report and IT records, Patient A's consistent evidence, and Miss Senner's own admissions. The panel decided the proved facts amounted to misconduct, breaching standards of the NMC Code on confidentiality, evidence-based practice, record-keeping and not expressing personal beliefs to patients inappropriately. It determined her fitness to practise is currently impaired on both public protection and public interest grounds, finding limited insight, no evidence of remediation and a high risk of repetition. The panel expressly concluded the dishonesty limb of the impairment test was not engaged, as dishonesty had not been charged.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
Mitigating factors
The panel took into account the following mitigating features: positive character references that refer to Miss Senner's personal characteristics; and positive testimony from her line manager at the time during the local investigation.
Aggravating factors
The panel took into account the following aggravating features: abuse of a position of trust as an experienced nurse; a pattern of misconduct over a period of time; limited insight and evidence of strengthened practice; knowingly breached the Trust's policies and procedures; and the vulnerability of Patient A at the time due to the seriousness of her illness and the stage of her treatment.
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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