Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing

Suspended from practice — 6 months

The regulator’s term: suspension

What does “suspended from practice” mean?

A suspension is a fixed-term pause on the right to practise. The practitioner cannot work in the regulated profession during the suspension. At the end of the period the suspension may be extended, replaced with another sanction, or lifted on review.

Concerning Dhanwati Ramdarass, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 76B0005E).

Decision date: 25 March 2026 · Hearing started 6 October 2025 and ended 25 March 2026

In plain English

The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee imposed a six-month suspension order on Dhanwati Ramdarass, a registered mental health nurse from Hertfordshire, on 25 March 2026. The panel found that, as the registered provider and nominated individual of a care home as of June 2022, she had failed in her oversight responsibilities, including ensuring up-to-date medication administration training, adequate risk assessments for residents and for food hygiene, and proper safeguarding. The panel concluded vulnerable patients were exposed to a serious risk of harm and that she had limited insight, but accepted significant mitigation including the COVID-19 context and her training. An interim suspension order of 18 months was imposed pending appeal.

Charges

That, as a registered nurse and the Registered Provider and Nominated Individual of a care home, Ms Ramdarass had failed in her oversight responsibilities as of 28 June 2022. The proven charges concerned failure to ensure her own and staff medication administration training was up to date or recorded; failure to ensure risk assessments addressed the condition of Resident A's bedroom; failure to ensure risk assessments were completed in relation to food hygiene; and failure to take steps to identify poor practice within the Home in relation to food safety and hygiene, as well as additional charges concerning her conduct at a meeting where Resident A was placed under restrictions. Several charges proved (some by admission); some not proved; some no case to answer.

Findings

The panel found Ms Ramdarass's fitness to practise impaired by reason of her misconduct. The panel concluded the failings were a pattern over time involving poor risk assessment, inadequate health and safety protocols, poor safeguarding, and lack of staff training, and that as the registered provider and nominated individual she had full oversight responsibility. The panel concluded vulnerable patients were exposed to serious risk of harm, that there was an abuse of trust in respect of Resident A, and that her insight into the failures remained limited. A six-month suspension was determined to be the proportionate sanction.

Mitigating factors

Immediate steps were taken to rectify some issues identified by the CQC inspection. Some acceptance of her role in failures and some apologies. A number of admissions were made at the start of the proceedings. The events occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic when there was a lot of stress in the system. Her challenging personal circumstances in terms of her caring responsibilities for family abroad. Training undertaken to strengthen her practice as a registered nurse.

Aggravating factors

She was a very experienced nurse who was in a leadership role at the Home with full oversight responsibilities as the registered provider and nominated individual. A pattern of misconduct over a period of time, including poor risk assessments, inadequate health and safety protocols, poor safeguarding for residents, and a lack of training for staff. Vulnerable patients were exposed to a serious risk of harm. She was at the meeting when restrictions were placed on Resident A and, despite knowing Resident A had full capacity, allowed her to be coerced into signing a care plan, constituting an abuse of position of trust. The decision to take on residents whilst there were staff shortages at the Home increased the existing risks. Limited insight into failures.

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.

Spot something incorrect?

If a fact on this page is wrong, or you believe the page should not be published, please submit a correction or takedown request.