Nursing and Midwifery Council determination — review hearing
NMC panel strikes off children's nurse Natalie Smith over competence concerns
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee has ordered that children's nurse Natalie Jane Smith be struck off the register, finding continuing impairment over wide-ranging competence concerns and no engagement with the regulator since January 2023.
MedicWatch editorial · Published 1 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 Natalie Jane Smith, nurse (Nursing and Midwifery Council 10G0695E).
Decision date: 1 May 2026 · Hearing started 1 May 2026
In plain English
The NMC's Fitness to Practise Committee found that children's nurse Natalie Jane Smith's fitness to practise remained impaired when it reviewed her suspension order on 1 May 2026. The original case concerned a lack of competence, including medication errors, record-keeping failures, and practising beyond her training. Noting she had not engaged with the NMC since January 2023, the panel decided a striking-off order was the only sanction that would protect the public. It takes effect on 28 June 2026.
Charges
Charges found proved at the original hearing concerned a lack of competence while employed at a Trust between December 2018 and November 2019, including: incorrect administration of inhaler medication; failure to administer prescribed co-amoxiclav; failure to replenish tracheostomy boxes; failure to complete vital signs observations; inserting a nasal bridle and cannulating a patient without the training required to do so safely; extensive record-keeping failures including unsigned drug charts, unrecorded medication administration and incomplete care documentation; signing to indicate medication had been administered when it had not; and inappropriate escalation of a scope-of-practice query. A further matter set out in Schedule 1 was private.
Findings
At a substantive order review meeting on 1 May 2026, the panel found Miss Smith's fitness to practise remains impaired on public protection and public interest grounds. It noted she had not engaged with the NMC since January 2023 and provided no evidence of insight, remediation or steps to maintain her competence during a long period out of practice. The panel found the position anticipated by the previous panel — that striking-off may be inevitable without engagement — had been reached, and concluded a striking-off order was the only sanction that would adequately protect the public and maintain confidence in the profession. The order takes effect at the end of 28 June 2026 upon expiry of the current suspension order.
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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