Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — review hearing
Practising with restrictions — 9 months
The regulator’s term: conditions on practice
What does “practising with restrictions” mean?
Conditions of practice allow the practitioner to keep working but only subject to specific restrictions — for example, supervision, limits on certain procedures, or required reporting to the regulator.
Concerning Joyce Efuah Babowa Mensah, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 00I6851E).
Decision date: 10 April 2026 · Hearing started 10 April 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee reviewed a 6-month suspension order imposed on Joyce Mensah, a mental health nurse, after she failed to carry out required 15-minute observations and respond to a medical emergency in 2020 where Patient A lost a significant chance of survival, and dishonestly recorded observations she had not made. The panel found her fitness to practise remained impaired but that she had shown insight and engaged with training. It replaced the suspension with a 9-month conditions of practice order requiring supervision and reporting.
Charges
Between 31 July and 1 August 2020, in relation to Patient A, Ms Mensah failed to undertake required 15-minute physical observations between 23:45 and 03:00; her actions led Patient A to lose a significant chance of survival; she recorded in Patient A's clinical records that they were asleep when she had not observed them, and her conduct was dishonest in that she knew she had not observed Patient A and intended any reader to believe she had. On 1 August 2020 she failed to use radios/alarms to alert colleagues to a medical emergency, failed to communicate that Patient A was suffering a cardiac arrest, failed to commence or instruct CPR, failed to use the automated external defibrillator and failed to communicate Patient A's medical history to ambulance personnel in a timely manner. She permitted a colleague to have an extended break putting patients at significant risk of harm.
Findings
This was the first review of a 6-month suspension order. The panel found Ms Mensah's fitness to practise remains impaired. It accepted that she has demonstrated sufficient insight, including remediation of the dishonesty aspect, has shown remorse and engaged with reflection, training and the NMC process. However, it found that the evidence remained largely theoretical because she had not had the opportunity to demonstrate strengthened practice in a clinical setting. The panel concluded there remained a risk of repetition of the clinical concerns, requiring a finding of continuing impairment on public protection and public interest grounds. It decided to replace the suspension with a 9-month conditions of practice order requiring supervision, training, monthly meetings and reporting.
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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