Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing
NMC panel strikes off nurse Helen Balogun over discriminatory comments and colleague harassment
The Nursing and Midwifery Council's Fitness to Practise Committee has struck mental health nurse Helen Oluyemisi Balogun off the register after finding she made antisemitic and other discriminatory comments about patients and harassed two colleagues.
MedicWatch editorial · Published 13 May 2026 · Updated 10 July 2026
Erasure (struck off the register)
Added to MedicWatch: 10 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 Helen Oluyemisi Balogun, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 08L0310E).
Decision date: 13 May 2026 · Hearing started 7 August 2025 and ended 13 May 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee found that Helen Oluyemisi Balogun made discriminatory comments about patients based on race and religion, including antisemitic remarks, and harassed two colleagues. The panel found her fitness to practise impaired by reason of misconduct, citing very limited insight, and made a striking-off order removing her from the register. An 18-month interim suspension order covers any appeal period.
Charges
Charges that, during handovers, she made comments that a Jewish patient was "cheap and tight and that was typical as he is Jewish" and "being cheap as he is Jewish" (proved); referred to a patient or a patient's partner as "half-caste" (proved by admission); that this conduct displayed a discriminatory attitude based on race and/or religion (proved); that she harassed Colleague 1, including singing Christian hymns in her presence, telling her "Jews don't believe in Jesus", ignoring, being dismissive of and raising her voice to her, motivated by a discriminatory attitude on grounds of race and/or religion (proved); and that she harassed Colleague 2 by snatching a form from her hand and instructing another staff member "just do it, don't listen to Colleague 2" (proved). Charges of calling a patient "a devil" in connection with being Jewish, saying "Juda" when an Ethiopian colleague entered, and shouting at or calling Colleague 2 "a silly girl" or "hypocrite" were found not proved.
Findings
The panel found the proved conduct amounted to serious professional misconduct, breaching the Code's requirements to treat people fairly and without discrimination, bullying or harassment. It determined the discriminatory concerns were attitudinal, deep-seated and deeply embedded, that she had very limited personal insight — framing the issue as one of wording rather than the underlying discriminatory attitudes — and that there was a risk of repetition and a real risk of significant harm. Fitness to practise was found currently impaired on both public protection and public interest grounds. The panel concluded the conduct was fundamentally incompatible with remaining on the register and made a striking-off order, with an 18-month interim suspension order to cover any appeal period.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
Mitigating factors
Early partial admission of the facts; she had worked under an interim conditions of practice order since the events causing concern; previous unblemished record; some training and testimonials. The panel placed little weight on the partial admissions and minimal weight on the training certificates.
Aggravating factors
Pattern of misconduct over a period of time; very limited personal insight; abuse of a position of trust in that the conduct was directed towards junior colleagues; failure to work collaboratively with colleagues; discriminatory comments made about a vulnerable patient in her care, a relative of a patient, and colleagues.
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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