Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — substantive hearing
Suspension (suspended from practice) — 3 months
Added to MedicWatch: 7 July 2026Report a correction
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 Henrietta Gibson-Leigertwood, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 76I3196E).
Decision date: 3 July 2026 · Hearing started 1 July 2026 and ended 3 July 2026
In plain English
The NMC found that registered nurse Henrietta Gibson-Leigertwood grabbed a vulnerable mental health patient, pulled the patient by the hair, did not use de-escalation techniques, and then made an inaccurate and dishonest Datix entry claiming the patient had attacked her. She admitted the charges. The Fitness to Practise Committee found her fitness to practise impaired by reason of misconduct and imposed a three-month suspension order with a review, plus an 18-month interim suspension order.
Charges
The panel found the following charges proved by the registrant's admission. That she, a registered nurse, on 10 November 2022: (a) grabbed Patient A without clinical justification; (b) pulled Patient A by the hair; and (c) did not use the de-escalation technique. Charge 2: recorded an inaccurate entry on the Datix that Patient A had 'suddenly attacked' her. Charge 3: her actions at charge 2 were dishonest in that she sought to represent that Patient A had attacked her when this was not true. Patient A was a vulnerable mental health patient.
Findings
The panel found charges 1a, 1b, 1c, 2 and 3 proved in their entirety by way of the registrant's admissions. It determined that the facts amounted to serious misconduct, breaching the NMC Code, including the duties to treat people with kindness and respect, to complete records accurately, and to act with honesty and integrity. Applying the Grant test, the panel found all four limbs engaged. It concluded there was a low but real risk of repetition, in part because the registrant had not yet demonstrated sufficient strengthening of practice. The panel found her fitness to practise currently impaired on both public protection and public interest grounds.
Mitigating and aggravating factors
Mitigating factors
The panel took into account the following mitigating features: early admissions to facts; genuine remorse and apologies made to anyone affected; personal circumstances and a difficult workplace environment at the time of the incident; 25 years of otherwise unblemished practice; and no further concerns arising since the incident.
Aggravating factors
The panel took into account the following aggravating features: conduct which recklessly put patients receiving care at risk of harm; actual harm caused to a vulnerable mental health patient; breach of fundamentals of nursing care; insufficient evidence of re-training and/or development which demonstrated a strengthening of practice; and dishonesty.
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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